LIBEAEY 

1&lxtoU%uv,\  Seminary, 


PRINCETON,  N  J. 


No.  Oase,_ 
No.  Shelf [ 
No.  Book, 


*TcTt 


nt~~ 


Mu-  - 


The  John  M.  Krebs  Donation. 


*  2, 


•        X  / 


RESEARCHES 

OF    THE 

REV.E.    SMITH    AND   REV.   H.   G.    O.   DWIGHT 

IN 

ARMENIA: 

INCLUDING    A   JOURNEY 

THROUGH  ASIA  MINOR,  AND  INTO  GEORGIA  AND  PERSIA. 

WITH    A    VISIT     TO    THE 

NESTORIAN  AND  CHALDEAN  CHRISTIANS 

OF    OORMIAH  AND  SALMAS. 
IN    TWO     VOLUMES  —  VOL.11. 


BY     ELI    S^MITH, 

Missionary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  CROCKER  AND  BREWSTER, 

47  Washington  Street: 

NEW  YORK  :    JONATHAN  LEAVITT, 

182  Broadway. 

1833. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833, 

By  Crocker  &  Brewster, 
In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


Griffin  &  Co.  Printers. 


CONTENTS. 


LETTER  XII. 

from  shoosha  TO  date  v.... Dishonesty  and  falsehood  of  the  Ar- 
menians and  moslerns — Route  proposed — Leave  Shoosha — Kulaah- 
kishlak — Impressions  respecting  a  republican  government — Doctrines 
respecting  the  Virgin — Degh — Armenian  nobility — Character  of  the 
Armenians  for  industry — Karahoonch — Passage  of  the  river  of  Datev 
— Arrival  at  the  convent  of  Datev — Diocese  of  Sunik — Family  devo- 
tions of  the  Armenians — Orders  of  the  Armenian  clergy — Moral 
character  and  influence  of  convents — Their  influence  upon  education 
— Diocesan  bishops — Their  income — Their  influence — Decline  of  mo- 
nasticism,  ........ 


LETTER   XIII. 

from  datev  to  nakhchevan... .Village  of  Datev — Lor — Substi- 
tute for  ovens  and  fireplaces — An  evening  conversation — The  Arme- 
nian parish  clergy — Their  appointment — Qualifications — Habits  and 
character — Duties — Incomes — Former  state  of  Lor — Low  diet  of  the 
common  people — Condition  of  the  Armenian  females — Beautiful  win- 
ter scenery — Sisiyan — Hospitality  of  the  mountaineers — Reception  at 
Shaghad — Observance  of  the  Sabbath — Attendance  on  public  worship 
— Descent  from  the  mountains — Selasiz — Commencement  of  Persian 
manners — Arrival  at  Nakhchevan,         ...  - 


VI  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  XIV. 

FROM    NAKHCHEVAN  TO  ERIVAN  AND  ECHMIADZIN..  ..Description 

of  Nakhchevan — Former  Dominican  mission — Ex-bishop  of  Aderbai- 
jan — Leave  Nakhchevan — Jews  of  Armenia — Accommodations  at 
Khoik — A  moslem  family — Moslem  devotions — Mount  Ararat — Zi- 
veh-diidengeh — Valley  of  the  Aras — Dawaly — Magoo— Kurds — Khor- 
virab — Ardisher — Singular  fasting — Reach  Erivan — Inhospitable  po- 
lice regulation — Description  of  Erivan— Ride  to  Echmiadzin,    -  60 

LETTER  XV. 

Echmiadzin....  St.  Hripsime — Vagharshabad — Description  of  the 
convent — Our  reception  by  the  monks — The  church — Ceremony  of 
the  mass — Doctrine  of  the  mass — Communion — Confession — Pilgrim- 
ages— Accommodations  of  the  vartabeds,  -  92 

LETTER  XVI. 

Echmiadzin. ...Festival  of  the  Catholicos — His  sacrifice — Origin  of  his 
title  and  see — His  election — The  present  Catholicos — His  duties  and 
sources  of  income — Ordination  of  bishops — The  meiron — The  novi- 
rag — Power  of  the  Catholicos — Interview  with  the  vartabeds — Essen- 
tial articles  of  faith — Conditions  of  salvation — Mode  of  baptism- 
Confirmation — Extreme  unction — Conversation  upon  our  own  religious 
rites — Commencement  of  the  Armenian  Sabbath — Ideas  of  Missions: — 
Library  of  the  convent — Character  of  the  secretary  of  the  Catholi- 
cos— Return  to  Nakhchevan,    -  -  -  -  -  111 

LETTER  XVII. 

from  nakhchevan  to  te briz... .Leave  Nakhchevan — Cross  the 
Aras — Benighted  in  the  open  air — Pery-kend — Khoy — Delayed  by 
sickness — Conveyed  in  a  takhtirewan  to  Tebriz—  Kindness  of  English 
friends — Description  of  Tebriz — Its  trade— -The  prince  royal,  Abbas 
Mirza — His  government,  ...  134 

LETTER  XVIII. 

tebriz. ...Number  and  political  condition  of  the  Armenians  of  Tebriz 
— Their  moral  character — Their  education — Festival  of  the  Purifica- 
tion—Bishop Israel — His  preaching — Conversation  with  him — Ar- 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

menian  way  of  salvation — Moslems  of  Aderbaijan  not  of  the  Persian 
race — Persian  civility,  and  falsehood — Slight  prejudices  against  Eu- 
ropean customs,  with  high  ideas  of  ceremonial  purity — Fondness  for 
religious  discussion,  with  bigotry  or  skepticism,  -  -  151 

LETTER    XIX. 

from  tebriz  to  SALMAS....Route  proposed — Leave  Tebriz — Saha- 
lan — Condition  of  the  peasantry — Deezeh-khaleel — Inhospitality — A 
Sabbath  in  Ramadan — Shehwaly — Lake  of  Oormiah — District  of 
Gunieh — Salt  plains — Dilman — Van  and  Aghtamar — Khosrova,  a 
Chaldean  village— Modern  origin  of  the  Chaldean  sect — 'Chaldeans  of 
these  parts — Their  political  condition — Their  religious  rites — State  of 
papal  missions  in  Persia — Pretender  to  the  throne  of  Georgia — Ex- 
cursion to  Old  Salmas — The  Jews  of  these  parts — A  Chaldean  wed- 
ding,   --------  175 

LETTER  XX. 

oormiah... .Origin  of  Nestorianism— Its  establishment  in  Persia — Or- 
igin and  extent  of  the  patriarchate  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon — Dif- 
ferent residences  of  its  patriarchs — Conversions  of  the  Nestorians  to 
the  papal  church — Origin  of  the  seceding  patriarchate  of  Mar  Shimon 
in  the  Kurdish  mountains — Our  arrival  at  Jamalava,  a  Nestorian 
village  in  the  province  of  Oormiah — Nestorian  fasts — Evening 
prayers — Bishop  Mar  Yohanna — Language  of  the  Nestorians- — Ado- 
ration of  the  saints — Prayers  for  the  dead — State  of  the  dead  before 
Christ — Independent  Nestorians  of  Kurdistan — Diocese  of  Mar  Shi- 
mon— Diocese  of  the  bishop  of  Jamalava — Orders  of  the  Nestorian 
clergy- — Their  support — Ideas  of  the  way  of  salvation — Sign  of  the 
cross — Number  of  the  Nestorian  sacraments — Baptism — Sacred  leav- 
en— Eucharist — Mode  of  communion — Open  communion— Marriage 
— Consecration  of  churches — Armenian  carnival,        -  -  201 

LETTER  XXL 

oormiah.  ...Plain  of  Oormiah — Reception  at  Ada — Mar  Yoosuf— 
Nestorian  fasts — Evening  prayers — Number  of  the  Nestorian  sacra- 
ments— Baptism — Forgiveness  of  sins — Eucharist — Nestorian  clergy 
— Education — Regard  for  papacy — Education  of  the  clergy — Political 
discontent — Town  of  Oormiah — Disregard  to  truth — Reception  at 
Ardishai — Dress  of  the  Nestorian  clergy — Mar  Gabriel  and  his  dio- 
cese— Evening   prayers — Eucharist — Baptism — The  bishop's 


Vlil  CONTENTS. 

and  family — Fasting — Argument  with  a  Chaldean — Reasons  for  not 
proceeding  farther — Koosy — Evening  prayers — Nestorian  manuscripts 
— Interview  with  Mar  Ooraham — The  Takhsa — The  Siinhediis — 
Celebration  of  the  eucharist — Suggestions  respecting  a  mission  in 
Persia,  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  233 

LETTER  XXII. 

from  tebriz  to  kara-keleeseh... .Leave  Tebriz — Precaution 
against  robbers  from  Khoy — Enter  the  country  of  the  Kurds— Arts 
of  our  guide  at  Zoraba — And  at  Keleeseh — Cross  the  Turkish  fron- 
tier— Bayezeed — Diadeen — Uch-keleeseh,  or  Soorp  Garabed — In- 
civility of  the  Kurds — Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Armenians  respecting 
the  nature  of  Christ — Habits  of  the  wandering  Kurds — Pastoral  ob- 
servations— Kara-keleeseh,     -----  266 

LETTER   XXIII. 

from  kara-keleeseh  to  erzroom... .District  of  Alashgerd — 
Hospitality  at  Mollah  Soleiman — Papal  Armenians — Causes  of  the 
similarity  between  the  papal  and  Armenian  churches — Difficult  and 
tempestuous  passage  of  a  mountain — Treatment  by  the  Kurds  at 
Dahar — Descent  of  the  mountain — Civility  of  the  Armenians  at 
Komatsor — Reach  Erzroom — Present  state  of  the  city — Visit  to  the 
mosks — Ineligible  location  for  a  mission,  -  -  _  286 

LETTER  XXIV. 

from  erzroom  by  trebizond  to  malta...  .Leave  Erzrooin — 
Want  of  wood  in  Armenia — Sheitan-deresy — Kara-koolak — State  of 
the  season  at  Chiftlik — Sanjaks  of  Erzroom — Road  through  Baiboort 
— Passage  of  a  mountain  in  the  night — Porodor — Accident  in  the 
mountains — Beautiful  gardens  in  a  valley — Giimish-khaneh — Danger- 
ous passage  of  Khojah-deresy — Forest  scenery — Poisonous  honey — 
Formation  of  a  natural  bridge — Cultivation  of  maize — Secret  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity — Reach  Trebizond — Its  history — Description 
of  it — Its  trade — Population — Greek  and  Armenian  moslems — The 
Laz — Proposed  mission  at  Trebizond — Voyage  to  Constantinople — 
Return  to  Malta — Concluding  observations,    -  307 


RESEARCHES    IN    ARMENIA 


LETTER  XII. 

FROM      SHOOSHA      TO      DATEV. 

Dishonesty  and  falsehood  of  the  Armenians  and  moslems — Route  proposed 
— Leave  Shoosha— Kulaah-kishlak — Impressions  respecting  a  republican 
government — Doctrines  respecting  the  Virgin — Degh — Armenian  nobility 
— Character  of  the  Armenians  for  industry — Karahoonch — Passage  of  the 
river  of  Datev — Arrival  at  the  convent  of  Datev — Diocese  of  Sunik — Fam- 
ily devotions  of  the  Armenians — Orders  of  the  Armenian  clergy — Moral 
character  and  influence  of  convents'— Their  influence  upon  education — 
Diocesan  bishops — Their  income — Their  influence — Decline  of  monasti- 


Dear  Sir, 

Were  we  to  record  all  the  vexatious  and  disappoint- 
ments to  which  we  are  subjected  in  our  journey,  by  the  to- 
tal want  of  truth  that  universally  prevailed,  almost  every 
page  of  our  journals  would  be  disfigured  by  some  com- 
plaint. As  faithful  describers  of  the  character  of  the  peo- 
ple, however,  we  are  bound  to  report  enough  to  show  you, 
that  lying  is  so  common  as  almost  to  form  a  part  of  their 
nature.  So  blinded  even  is  their  conscience,  as  not  to  be 
easily  persuaded  to  regard  it  as  a  sin,  especially  when  no 
evil  to  others  is  the  designed  object  of  it.  Mutual  confi- 
dence, of  cqurse,  hardly  exists ;  and  only  by  being  experi- 

VOL.  II.  2 


10        DISHONESTY    OF   THE  ARMENIANS  AND  MOSLEMS. 

mentally  acquainted  with  all  the  varied  modes  of  deceiving, 
are  they  able  to  regulate  their  dealings  with  each  other. 
This  total  disregard  of  truth  threw  indescribable  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  our  obtaining  correct  information ;  and  the 
difficulty  evidently  increased  as  we  advanced  eastward. 
In  answer  to  the  most  common  questions,  we  were  many 
and  many  a  time  told  what  was  palpably  false,  for  no  other 
imaginable  reason,  than  either  the  depraved  taste  of  our 
informants  for  falsehood,  or  a  dislike  to  trouble  themselves 
with  the  accuracy  of  truth.  And  never  could  we  con- 
fide in  what  was  said  to  us,  without  confirming  it  by  cross- 
questioning,  or  by  otherwise  finding  a  balance  of  probabili- 
ties in  its  favor. 

The  difficulty  was  not  less  in  our  dealings  with  the  peo- 
ple than  in  our  inquiries  of  them.  Deeming  it  imprudent 
on  account  of  my  feeble  health,  to  leave  Shoosha  with  no 
other  attendant  than  Antonio,  whom  we  had  taken  to  help 
us  in  the  languages  of  the  country,  rather  than  to  serve  us, 
we  endeavored  to  procure  another  for  a  travelling  servant 
and  cook.  Four  were  engaged  successively  by  solemn 
contract,  all  of  whom  disappointed  us ;  some  never  ma- 
king their  appearance  at  all  after  the  bargain  was  completed, 
and  others  deserting  us  after  two  or  three  days'  service. 
Our  difficulty  with  muleteers  was  scarcely  less;  we  contin- 
ued to  hire  different  sets  of  them  in  vain,  until  the  pledge 
of  contract  was  finally  given,  and  insured  our  departure. 
The  custom  of  the  pledge  is  universal  wherever  I  have 
travelled  in  Syria,  Greece  and  Armenia.  No  matter  how 
small  it  be,  nor  which  of  the  contracting  parties  gives  it, 
it  binds  the  bargain,  which  otherwise,  though  made  with 
the  most  solemn  promises,  might  be  broken  for  the  merest 
trifle.  I  have  known  its  validity  fail  but  once,  and  then 
the  poor  muleteer's  horses  were  siezed  by  government,  and 
he  restored  our  pledge.  Both  moslems  and  Armenians  are 
sufficiently  given  to  falsehood,  but  the  latter  more  so  than 


ROUTE    PROPOSED.  11 

the  former.  I  must  add,  too,  that  the  kindred  vice  of  pro- 
faneness,  in  all  its  varieties,  is  equally  common  to  both 
sects.  It  is  heard  from  every  mouth,  and  so  lightly  is  it  re- 
garded, as  not  to  be  esteemed  sinful. 

It  was  on  the  1st  of  November  that  we  found  ourselves  in 
readiness  to  bid  farewell  to  our  hospitable  and  beloved 
brethren  at  Shoosha.  The  cholera  had  ceased  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Aras;  and  though  the  plague  still  continued  at 
Tebriz,  where  it  had  broken  out  to  finish  the  desolation 
commenced  by  the  cholera,  we  determined  to  move  in  that 
direction.  My  own  health,  too,  was  not  restored  beyond  a 
liability  to  constant  relapses,  but  we  hoped  that  travelling 
would  confirm  it.  The  usual  caravan  route  to  Tebriz 
passes  a  little  to  the  east  of  Shoosha,  and  takes  nearly  a 
straight  course.  But  our  intention  being  to  visit  Echmiad- 
zin on  our  way,  we  took  a  more  untravelled  road,  direct- 
ly over  the  mountains  of  Kara-bagh  to  Nakhchevan;  antici- 
pating that  the  difficulties  of  the  way  would  be  more  than 
compensated,  by  the  opportunity  it  would  present  of  seeing 
the  Armenians  in  a  more  primitive  and  simple  state,  than 
they  are  perhaps  elsewhere  to  be  found.  In  order  to  facili- 
tate our  progress,  our  former  friend  the  commandant  of  Kars, 
who  had  now  succeeded  to  the  command  of  Shoosha,  repeat- 
ed his  civilities,  by  offering  us  an  order  for  the  villages  on 
the  road  to  furnish  us  with  lodgings  and  guides. 

With  an  awkward  hostler,  whom  we  had  taken  as  a  final 
resort,  for  a  servant  and  cook,  and  mounted  on  five  horses 
owned  by  two  Persian  muleteers,  we  started  at  10  A.  M. 
Our  course  lay  directly  over  the  mountains,  which  rose 
behind  and  towered  far  above  our  mountain  citadel,  and 
had  for  several  weeks  been  the  resting  place  of  dark  clouds, 
that  to  our  impatient  eye  threatened  daily  to  cover  them  with 
impassable  snow-drifts.  We  issued  from  the  Erivan  gate, 
and  descending  awhile,  came  upon  the  top  of  the  ridge, 
which  connects  in  this  direction  the  base  of  the  rock  of  Shoo- 


12  LEAVE    SHOOSHA. 

sha  with  the  mountain.  We  were  still  so  elevated  that  the 
objects  at  the  bottom  of  the  ravines  on  either  side  could  be 
but  indistinctly  seen,  and  the  steepness  of  the  declivity 
along  which  we  descended  into  that  on  the  left,  put  the 
carefulness  of  our  horses  to  a  severe  test.  We  finished 
the  descent  without  accident,  and  then,  following  a  path 
little  better  than  a  goat's  track,  over  sloping  rocks  and  along 
the  edge  of  chasms,  we  traced  the  torrent  that  washes  the 
bed  of  the  ravine,  to  the  very  top  of  the  mountain. 

Though  we  had  yet  found  no  road  more  difficult,  we  en- 
joyed it  much.  Our  spirits,  cheered  by  feelings  of  return- 
ing health  and  freedom  to  move  again  after  so  long  a  con- 
finement, and  by  the  providential  deliverance  we  had  ex- 
perienced from  the  pestilence  by  which  a  thousand  had 
fallen  at  our  side  and  ten  thousand  at  our  right  hand, 
were  additionally  exhilarated  by  a  smiling  November's  sun, 
which,  shining  through  a  cloudless  sky,  warmed  without  op- 
pressing us.  How  charming,  too,  was  the  chrystal  stream 
that  murmured  by  us,  after  the  briny  wells  of  Shoosha! 
We  felt  as  if  we  could  swallow  enough  to  quench  an  ele- 
phant's thirst,  merely  for  the  pleasure  of  drinking.  The 
party-colored  leaves,  too,  silently  dropping  from  the  oak, 
maple,  beech,  hawthorn  and  other  trees,  which  covered  the 
sides  of  the  mountain  and  partly  shaded  our  path,  threw 
over  our  feelings  a  tinge  of  pleasing  melancholy.  And 
nothing  interrupted  the  general  stillness,  but  the  sudden 
start  of  a  lizard  among  the  leaves,  or  the  bark  of  a  dog  of 
some  straggling  nomad,  who  with  tardy  steps  was  edging 
his  way  to  join  his  companions  already  in  their  winter- 
quarters  on  the  banks  of  the  Koor.  The  height  of  the 
mountain  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact,  that  it  divides 
the  waters  of  the  Koor  from  those  of  the  Aras.  We  found 
the  topmost  ridge  entirely  destitute  of  trees,  as  if  even  they 
had  retired  before  the  winds  and  snows  that  in  winter  make 
it  their  sporting  place ;  and  the  green  sward  that  cover- 


KULAAH-KISHLAK.  13 

ed  it,  seemed  only  to  add  to  its  bleakness.  We  descend- 
ed immediately,  on  the  farther  side,  into  a  ravine  as  steep 
and  profound  as  the  one  we  had  ascended,  but  destitute  of 
rocks  and  precipices.  Crossing  a  torrent  at  its  bottom, 
and  ascending  a  fatiguing  distance  the  steep  declivity  of 
a  mountain  on  its  left  side,  we  stopped  at  Kulaah-kishlak, 
(called  also  Kulaah-deresy,)  the  first  village  on  the  road. 
Its  estimated  distance  from  Shoosha  is  only  4  fursakhs ;  * 
but  we  were  at  least  seven  hours  on  the  road. 

Without  a  sight  of  the  commandant's  order,  the  kakhia 
readily  received  us  as  his  guests.  A  kind  of  public  room 
was  opened,  and  after  it  was  cleared  of  some  dishes  used 
for  the  entertainment  of  poultry  in  the  absence  of  travellers, 
and  spread  with  carpets,  we  found  in  it  comfortable  accom- 
modations. A  supper  of  rice  revived  me,  and  I  was  en- 
couraged at  finding  myself  not  too  fatigued  by  my  first 
day's  ride  for  a  little  conversation  with  our  host.  The 
village  contained  about  50  under-ground  houses,  all  inhab- 
ited by  Armenians,  who  had  one  church  and  two  priests. 
It  was  the  limit  of  the  extent,  in  this  direction,  of  the  diocese 
of  Kantsasar.  The  kakhia  affirmed  that  no  schools  existed 
either  here  or  in  any  of  the  surrounding  villages ;  and  de- 
clared, as  a  reason,  that  no  one  was  qualified  to  teach,  and 
probably  none  wished  to  learn.  His  own  manifest  indiffer- 
ence to  the  subject  tended  to  confirm  the  latter  assertion. 
He  estimated  the  number  in  this  village  who  could  read  at 
only  six. 

Our  inquisitiveness  respecting  his  village  and  nation,  led 
him  to  take  a  similar  liberty  to  question  us  respecting  our 


*  Though  not  yet  in  Persia,  we  must  now  adopt  the  Persian  measure  of 
distance,  it  being  here  the  prevalent  one.  It  is  the  ancient  parasang, 
still  called  in  Persian  fursakh,  but  in  Turkish  aghdj,  or  tree.  The  latter 
name  is  most  known  where  we  travelled,  but  I  prefer  the  former  for  its 
classical  associations.  It  is  not  a  measured  distance,  but  varies  little  from 
4  miles. 


14  IDEAS    OE  A    REPUBLICAN    GOVERNMENT. 

country.     A  conversation   ensued   resembling  many  that 
occurred  during  our  journey,   and   will   afford   you  a  fair 
specimen  of  the   ideas  suggested  to  the  more  sensible  of 
the  common  people  in  this  part  of  the  world,  on  first  hear- 
ing of  a  republican  government,     Learning  that  we  were 
from  the  Yengy  Diinya  (new  world),  and  acknowledged 
subjection  to  no  European  government,  he  inquired  if  we 
had  a  king  of  our  own.     Our  reply  led  him  to  ask  us,  with 
the  evident  impression  that  it  would  be  a  great  privilege 
and  give  us  respectability,  if  we  could  not  have  one.     We 
assured  him  that  we  could,  but  that  not  one  among  us 
wished  it,   and  were  a  man  to  declare  himself  king,  he 
would  inevitably  be  killed.     He  demanded,  with  astonish- 
ment the  reason.     Because,  said  we,  we  prefer  the  liberty 
and  privilege  of  governing  ourselves,  to  the  splendor,  ex- 
pense  and  tyranny  of  kings ;  for  now,   according  to  the 
fundamental  principle  of  our   government,  every  citizen 
has   a  voice  in  the  choice  of  officers,  the  laying  of  taxes, 
and  the  enacting  of  laws.     After  reflecting  a  moment,  he 
concluded   that   there   could   be  no  baraket   (prosperity) 
under  such  a  government;  and  upon  our  declaring  that  our 
experience  contradicted,  his  opinion   and    asking  his  rea- 
sons, he  added  that  there  could  be  no  public  security,  peo- 
ple must  fall  to  robbing  and  killing  each  other.     Noway 
desirous   to   diminish   his   happiness   by  persuading    him 
that  our  government  was  better  than  his  own,  and  in  com- 
pliance with  our  unvarying  principle  to  say  nothing  against 
the  powers  that  be,  we  conceded  that  from  what  he  knew 
of  mankind   his  conclusion   was  natural   and  just.      For 
such  would  inevitably  be  the  result,  were  the  people  around 
him  to  have  a  government  like  ours.     He  must  remember, 
however,    we   suggested,  that  we   are  a  different  people; 
that  instead  of  being  ignorant   and   demoralized,  a  large 
proportion  of  our  countrymen  are  educated,  under  the  in- 
fluence  of  moral  principle,  and  possessed  of  integrity. 


DOCTRINES    RESPECTING   THE  VIRGIN.  15 

Observing  an  Armenian  Testament  among  our  baggage, 
he  began  to  read  it,  and  found  some  difficulty  in  ascertain- 
ing what  it  was.  It  was  evidently  new  to  him,  he  had 
never  read  it,  and  no  one  in  the  village,  he  assured  us,  ex- 
cept the  priests,  owned  a  copy.  He  seemed  to  care  little 
about  it,  however,  and  it  only  gave  him  occasion  to  ask  if  our 
church  was  nearly  related  to  his  in  doctrine.  We  chose  to 
answer  in  detail ;  that  both  believe  in  the  Trinity,  and  in 
the  incarnation  and  death  of  Christ  to  save  the  world ;  in  a 
word,  that  both  are  founded  upon  the  New  Testament, 
and  4  can  they  fail  of  being  nearly  related  V  He  replied 
that  lately  some  Germans  had  come  among  them  professing 
to  have  the  same  religion,  but  they  denied  the  perpetual 
virginity  of  the  mother  of  God,  the  mediation  of  the  saints 
&c.  and  thus  proved  that  their  faith  was  essentially  differ- 
ent. We  would  gladly  have  siezed  the  occasion  to  remove 
his  prejudices,  which  were  evidently  strong  against  our 
missionary  brethren,  but  the  fatigue  of  the  day,  and  the 
previous  conversation  had  left  us  too  little  nerve  for  argu- 
ment. Antonio,  however,  whose  eyes  had  been  opened  at 
Shoosha  to  many  of  the  errors  of  his  church,  continued  the 
conversation  respecting  the  mediation  of  the  virgin ;  and 
finally  concluded  by  pledging  himself  to  believe  in  it,  if 
proof  could  be  adduced  that  her  body  as  well  as  her  soul 
ascended  to  heaven. 

The  veneration  of  the  Armenians  for  the  virgin  is  not 
less  than  that  of  the  Greeks ;  and  being  of  necessity  fre- 
quently alluded  to  in  our  journals,  as  one  of  their  most  prom- 
inent superstitions,  it  demands  a  moment's  attention.  The 
extent  to  which  she  is  regarded  as  an  object  of  worship  and 
an  intercessor  with  God,  is  sufficiently  plain  from  the  ex- 
tracts already  made  from  the  Jamakirk  in  speaking  of 
the  nature  of  the  Armenian  church  services.  Her  per- 
petual virginity  is  held  to  with  an  almost  inconceivable 
strictness   as  an  essential  article  of  belief,    and  is   dwelt 


16  DOCTRINES    RESPECTING    THE  VIRGIN. 

upon  with  indecent  minuteness.  Expressions  occur  in  the 
creed  already  quoted  from  the  prayer-book,  which  a  sense  of 
decency  would  not  allow  to  be  published.  Others  still  worse 
are  found  in  the  daily  prayers  of  the  church,  to  which  no  deli- 
cate ear  would  allow  itself  to  listen.  The  title,  Mother  of  God, 
(in  Armenian  Asdvadzadzin,  literally  parent  of  God,)  as  ap- 
plied to  her,  has  been  already  frequently  repeated.  Her  free- 
dom from  original  sin,  which  is  believed  by  both  the  Greeks 
and  the  papists,  is  not,  we  were  assured  by  the  vartabeds  at 
Echmiadzin,  an  article  of  the  Armenian  faith ;  and  I  find 
it  asserted  by  Nerses  Shnorhali,  '  that  the  virgin  Mary  from 
whom  Christ  took  his  body  was  of  the  sinful  nature  of  Adam.'* 
Very  inconsistently,  however,  the  Armenians  celebrate  the 
festival  of  her  conception,  which  originated  in  the  idea 
of  the  native  purity  of  her  nature.  That  a  sufficiently  high 
opinion  is  entertained  of  her  holiness  after  her  conception 
of  our  Lord,  will  appear  from  the  same  author.  "  It  would 
be  agreeable,"  he  says,  "  to  my  ideas,  if  I  might  venture 
to  say,  that  these  passions,  as  well  as  all  diseased  operations 
of  mind  and  body  were  foreign,  not  only  from  that  body 
which  was  united  to  the  "Word,  but  also  from  that  of  the 
holy  virgin  after  the  indescribable  conception.  For  the 
place  where  God  literally  takes  up  his  residence,  obeys  not 
the  laws  of  nature,  any  more  than  did  the  burning  bush,  or 
the  fiery  furnace.  We  who  are  in  the  truth  must  believe, 
that  after  the  virgin  became  the  residence  of  the  Spirit  and 
the  Word,  human  passions  were  entirely  removed  from  her."t 
Blasphemous  as  was  the  assertion  of  the  vartabed  at  Shoo- 
sha  respecting  her  equality  with  the  persons  of  the  Trinity, 
he  was  almost  borne  out  in  it  by  the  ideas  of  his  country- 
men. Even  the  Jamakirk  calls  her  "  the  mediator  of  the 
world,  seraph  of  dust,  more  famous  than  the  cherubim." 
And  it  is  common  to  eulogize  her  by  referring  to  the  al* 
mighty  word  that  called  the  light  into  existence,  and  saying ; 

*  Unthanragan,  p.  84,  204,       f  Ibid.  p.  212,  213. 


ROAD    TO    DEGH.  17 

As  God  said  *'  let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  so 
she  said  to  Gabriel,  be  it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word, 
and  his  words  came  to  pass.  The  assumption  of  her  body 
to  heaven  is  firmly  believed,  and  the  event,  as  in  the  papal 
church,  is  celebrated  by  a  festival. 

Nov.  2.  Refreshed  by  sleep  and  a  light  breakfast,  we 
started  at  7  and  a  quarter  A.  M.  Cultivation,  principally 
of  grain,  of  which  we  saw  none  yesterday  till  we  approach- 
ed the  village,  was  limited  also  on  this  side  to  its  vicinity. 
For  a  great  rarity  in  this  part  of  the  world,  where  houses 
for  the  sake  of  mutual  protection  are  universally  clustered 
closely  together  in  villages,  every  farm  had  its  farm-house, 
as  if  each  proprietor  could  live  quietly  under  his  own  vine 
and  fig-tree.  Barns,  however,  were  wanting,  and  the  hay- 
stacks which  supplied  their  place  were  raised,  either  on 
scaffolds  or  on  the  limbs  of  trees,  some  six  or  eight  feet 
from  the  ground,  probably  to  be  above  the  reach  both  of 
cattle  and  the  snow.  As  we  advanced,  the  ravine  below 
us  became  a  chasm  of  frightful  depth,  confined  between 
perpendicular  precipices.  Our  road  led  us  up  and  down 
long  declivities  fearfully  steep,  and  passed  alternately  through 
groves  and  pasturage  grounds,  till  we  came  at  length  to  an 
open  prospect  in  front,  of  the  heart  of  the  mountainous 
part  of  Kara-bagh.  It  is  an  extensive  table-land,  separated 
from  the  valley  of  the  Koor  by  the  mountains  we  had 
crossed,  and  from  the  valley  of  the  Aras  by  another  range, 
now  in  sight  and  white  with  snow.  Unlike  both  these 
mountains,  it  is  entirely  destitute  of  trees.  In  the  bottom 
of  a  deep  valley  that  separated  us  from  it,  we  reached,  at 
11  and  a  half  A.  M.  a  beautifully  transparent  river  run- 
ning to  the  left  toward  the  Aras.  Its  size  induced  us  to 
avail  ourselves  of  a  log  bridge  at  hand,  but  finding  it  im- 
possible to  pass  a  large  rock  on  the  farther  side,  we  re- 
turned and  forded  it  without  difficulty.  On  the  sunny  sides 
of  this  warm  valley  were   a  few  vineyards,  the  only  ones 

VOL.  II.  3 


18 


DEGH. 


that  met  our  eye  between  Shoosha  and  Nakhchevan.  As- 
cending by  the  bed  of  one  of  the  ravines  that  intersected 
the  table-land  before  us,  we  reached  at  2  and  a  quarter 
P.  M.  the  Armenian  village  of  Degh,  4  fursakhs  from 
Kulaah-kishlak. 

Inquiring  as  usual  for  the  kakhia  to  furnish  us  with  lodg- 
ings, we  were  conducted  to  the  house  of  a  melik.  By  the 
side  of  the  others,  which  were  all  under-ground  cabins,  it 
seemed  a  large  and  venerable  building.  The  upper  story, 
built  of  wood  with  a  shingled  roof,  was  indeed  in  ruins,  but 
the  lower  part  was  solidly  constructed  of  stone.  Besides 
an  arched  portico  in  front,  it  consisted  of  two  large  apart- 
ments, each  of  which  was  covered  with  a  lofty  dome,  and 
had  no  window  to  admit  the  light,  nor  chimney  to  let  out 
the  smoke,  except  a  round  aperture  at  the  top.  Directly  be- 
neath it  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  the  place  for  a  fire  was 
indicated  only  by  a  circle  of  hewn  stone  on  a  level  with 
the  rest  of  the  floor,  which  was  likewise  of  stone. 

The  only  furniture  of  these  prison-like  apartments  was 
_a  few  piles  of  carpets,  matresses,  coverlets  and  cushions. 
Carpets  were  immediately  spread  around  the  hearth,  and  a 
fire,  which  the  coldness  of  the  weather  rendered  necessary, 
was  built  for  our  accommodation.  Unfortunately  a  clown- 
ish Russian  soldier,  by  obstinately  appropriating  to  himself  a 
large  share  of  the  circle  around  it,  and  the  smoke  which 
would  not  find  its  way  to  the  outlet  above  till  the  air  was 
sufficiently  heated  to  force  it  upward,  combined  to  ruffle 
Antonio's  temper  so  much,  that,  not  content  with  falling  out 
with  the  soldier,  he  undertook,  also,  to  let  loose  his  tongue 
upon  ourselves.  A  warm  fire  and  clear  air  soon  set  mat- 
ters right,  however,  and  the  melik  in  the  mean  time,  who 
was  absent  on  our  arrival,  returned  to  Welcome  his  guests. 
The  parade  made  to  receive  him,  and  the  feudal  hom- 
age paid  him  by  the  villagers,  reminded  me  of  the  state 
affected  by  the  Emeers  of  Mount  Lebanon.     But  his  equi- 


ARMENIAN    NOBILITY.  19 

page  was  a  caricature  of  all  hereditary  nobility.  He  had 
but  one  or  two  attendants,  and  rode  upon  an  ass.  We 
had  already  ordered  a  supper  of  pilav  from  our  own  rice, 
which  was  now  brought  in  with  the  addition  of  a  boiled 
fowl  or  two  from  his  stock;  and  he  sat  down  to  help 
himself  with  all  his  guests  including  the  soldier,  leaving  us 
in  the  awkward  predicament  of  not  knowing  whether  he 
was  entertaining  us,  or  we  them.  Neither  spoon,  nor 
knife,  nor  fork  appeared;  and  each  tore  his  fowl  in  pieces 
with  his  fingers,  and  laded  up  his  pilav  with  his  hands. 
Our  host  manifested  little  inclination  to  converse  with  us, 
and  when  we  thought  to  lead  him  to  it  by  telling  him  from 
whence  we  came,  a  question  which  he  had  neglected  to  ask, 
a  few  answers  satisfied  all  the  curiosity  that  was  excited. 

MeliJc  is  a  word  borrowed  from  the  Arabic,  in  which  lan- 
guage it  means  a  king,  but  in  Armenian  it  is  only  equivalent 
to  noble.  The  ancient  Armenian  nobility,  which  was  once 
so  proud  and  powerful,  is  now  almost  extinct.  With  the 
exception  of  a  family  pretending  to  be  descended  from  the 
Ardzroonies,  and  another  from  the  Mamigonians  but  bear- 
ing another  name,  at  Tiflis,  we  heard  of  no  nobility  claim- 
ing to  belong  to  the  ancient  stock,  out  of  the  mountains 
of  Kara-bagh.  These  mountains  were  formerly  embraced 
in  the  province  of  Siinik,  which  was  inhabited  by  one 
of  the  most  ancient,  proudest  and  most  powerful  of  the 
Armenian  clans,  called  Siinik,  and  also  Sisagan.  Its 
princes  enjoyed  for  many  centuries  little  less  than  inde- 
pendence ;  till  finally  one  of  them  helped  to  destroy  the 
dynasty  of  the  Pakradians,  by  aspiring  himself  to  the 
throne.*  Even  so  late  as  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  during  the  Afghan  invasion  of  Persia,  a  prince 
pretending  to  descent  from  the  ancient  Siinik  blood,  suc- 
ceeded in  these  mountains  in  throwing  off  the  Persian 
yoke,  and  contending  successfully  for  several  years  with 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  207. 


20  PRODUCTIVENESS    OP  THE    SOIL. 

his  enemies.*  The  Armenians  here  have  now,  with  less 
of  civilization %  more  independence  of  character,  than  in 
any  other  part  of  their  country ;  and  their  nobles,  though 
poor,  are  considerably  numerous.  The  title  seems  to 
descend  to  all  the  male  children. 

Nov.  3.  Taking  a  guide  from  the  melik  for  the  convent 
of  Datev,  which  though  not  on  the  direct  road  we  deter- 
mined to  visit,  we  started  at  7  and  a  quarter  A.  M.  Our 
route  lay  across  the  table-land  upon  which  we  entered  yes- 
terday. Its  waving  surface  was  arable,  and  cultivated  with 
grain  throughout,  in  long  narrow  fields,  without  a  fence  to 
separate  them.  And,  some  being  green  with  the  crop  already 
above  the  ground,  others  sowed  and  dry,  and  others  still 
newly  ploughed  or  now  undergoing  that  operation,  they 
presented  a  landscape  of  a  singular  aspect.  The  apparent 
fertility  of  the  soil  led  us  to  doubt  the  statements  of  our 
host  at  Degh  respecting  its  productiveness ;  but  they  were 
confirmed  by  our  guide.  A  view  of  the  many  circular 
threshing  floors  for  treading  out  grain,  which  crowned 
every  little  eminence  around  and  were  almost  as  numerous 
as  the  houses,  had  induced  us  in  the  evening  to  express  to 
the  melik  our  surprise  at  the  quantity  of  grain  that  seemed 
to  be  cultivated  by  his  village.  His  reply  is  a  specimen 
of  the  unmeaning  language  of  piety,  which  in  this  part  of 
the  world  is  in  the  mouth  of  every  body,  and  seems  a  gen- 
uine characteristic  of  orientalism.  l  We  sow/  said  he,  l  a 
considerable  quantity,  but  reap  only  what  God  gives  us. 
In  other  parts,  the  farmers  by  irrigating  their  lands  increase 
the  natural  productiveness  of  the  soil ;  but  the  location  of 
ours  not  admitting  of  this,  we  depend  only  upon  the  rain  of 
heaven,  and  what  they  produce,  therefore,  is  entirely  the 
gift  of  God.'  To  more  minute  inquiries  he  replied,  that 
their  crops  varied  from  one  to  five  fold ;  four  fold  being 
the  average  of  a  good  crop. 

*  Chamchean,  P.  7 :  c.  25. 


KARAHOONCH.  21 

The  ploughmen  whom  we  passed  were  cheering  their 
labors  with  songs,  as  they  drove  their  ploughs  after  teams 
of  four  pair  of  oxen,  with  a  boy  riding  upon  one  of  the 
leaders  to  direct  their  course.  In  the  winter  ten  and  in 
the  summer  eight  pair  of  oxen  are  usually  attached  to  each 
plough.  Respecting  the  industry  of  the  Armenians  gener- 
ally, I  may  take  this  opportunity  to  say,  that  if  they  cannot 
be  called  an  indolent  people,  Asiatic  want  of  energy  pre- 
vails in  all.  The  merchants  are  business  men,  and  in 
some  degree  enterprising,  but  still  find  much  time  to  in- 
dulge their  ease.  Mechanics  and  peasants  do  the  work 
that  devolves  upon  them,  but  with  hardly  force  enough  to 
clear  them  from  the  charge  of  laziness,  and  with  none  of 
the  activity  of  mind  that  leads  to  improvements  and  inven- 
tions. With  them  it  is  most  true,  that  there  is  no  new 
thing  under  the  sun ;  the  way  their  fathers  have  trod,  is 
that  only  which  they  deem  it  possible  for  them  to  pursue. 

The  numerous  ravines  that  intersect  the  table-land  over 
which  we  were  passing,  were  of  great  depth,  and  though 
their  precipitous  stratified  banks  were  of  a  consistency  and 
appearance  that  left  the  distant  observer  doubtful  whether 
they  were  clay  or  rock,  they  seemed  to  be  gullies  worn 
away  by  violent  rains.  Their  sides  and  beds  bristled  with 
numerous  slender  cones  some  twenty  feet  high  or  more, 
each  capped  with  a  rock  occasionally  several  tons  in  weight. 
The  rocks  had  probably  caused  the  curious  formation,  by 
defending  the  soil  directly  beneath  them  from  the  rains 
which  had  washed  away  the  earth  around.  We  at  length 
descended,  or  almost  slid  so  steep  was  the  declivity,  to  the 
bottom  of  one  of  them,  and  there  found  a  beautiful  swollen 
river  of  the  purest  water.  Then  turning  an  angle,  we  sud- 
denly came  upon  the  village  of  Karahoonch.  It  was  a 
small  cluster  of  Armenian  houses  in  a  little  nook,  encircled 
high  above  on  the  north  by  an  impending  precipice.  From 
the  farther  angle  a  cascade  poured  down  its  silvery  riband  of 

VOL.  II.  3  * 


22  PASSAGE    OF    THE   RIVER  OF  DATEV. 

water  for  the  accommodation  of  the  inhabitants ;  while 
enormous  masses  of  rock,  detached  in  former  times,  threaten- 
ed in  no  unintelligible  terms  their  very  existence.  Here 
our  road  seemed  to  end,  and  for  awhile  we  knew  not  but  it 
would  end  for  the  day.  For  it  appeared  that  our  guide  had 
received  orders  to  conduct  us  by  this  route,  instead  of  the 
direct  one  of  Kiiros,  on  account  of  the  cholera  which  was 
said  still  to  exist  there,  and  he  knew  the  way  no  farther. 
Another  was  soon  procured  ;  but  how  were  we  to  find  an 
egress  in  the  direction  of  Datev  ?  The  villagers  pointed  us 
to  the  top  of  the  precipice.  We  told  them  it  was  impossi- 
ble. They  laughed  at  us,  and  our  guide,  tucking  the  border 
of  his  gown  in  his  girdle,  led  the  way  with  the  agility  of  a 
mountain  goal.  A  serpentine  path  conducted  us  directly 
to  the  top,  where  a  break  in  the  ledge  unseen  from  below 
opened  again  upon  the  elevated  plain. 

Hastening  across  it,  we  found  ourselves  after  some  dis- 
tance, on  the  brink  of  the  awful  chasm  through  which  flows 
the  river  of  Datev,  forming  one  of  the  wildest  and  most 
sublime  of  nature's  scenes.  Its  depth  from  where  we  stood 
was  at  least  800  feet,  though  its  narrowness  prevented  us 
from  seeing  the  bottom.  Its  banks  were  the  rugged  and 
torn  sides  of  precipitous  mountains.  The  projecting  per- 
pendicular buttresses  of  the  one  opposite  to  us,  were  al- 
ternated with  slightly  sloping  recesses,  covered  with  suffi- 
cient soil  to  support  a  growth  of  forest  trees,  but  which  with 
its  silvan  load  had  in  several  places  slid  far  down  from  its 
original  bed.  On  one  of  these  dislocated  patches,  appear- 
ed a  small  stone  convent,  which  is  affirmed  by  history,  we 
were  assured  at  Datev,  to  have  migrated  uninjured  along 
with  its  foundation.  Though  so  notable  a  miracle  confirm- 
ed its  sanctity,  it  seems  to  have  frightened  away  all  the 
monks,  for  it  is  now  uninhabited. 

This  chasm  we  were  to  cross  by  descending  to  its  very 
bottom,  and  ascending  the  opposite  side.  The  commence- 
ment  of  our   task   was   appalling.     A  sideling  path  con- 


PASSAGE    OP    THE    RIVER    OF    DATEV.  %£ 

ducted  us  for  nearly  a  hundred  yards  down  the  smooth 
surface  of  a  rock,  covered  slightly  with  loose  pebbles 
and 'inclined  at  an  angle  that  caused  our  horses  to  slide 
much  of  the  way,  directly  toward  the  edge  of  a  preci- 
pice which  formed  the  lower  part  of  the  bank  below  us. 
We  trusted  to  the  sure  feet  of  our  horses  rather  than  our 
own,  and  got  safely  over  it.  Then  winding  around  the 
base  of  a  basaltic  precipice,  through  a  grove  of  stinted 
oaks  strown  with  immense  rocks  long  since  detached 
from  the  ledge  above,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  convent  we 
were  seeking.  It  stood  upon  the  very  brink  of  the  opposite 
bank,  at  a  height  perhaps  even  above  us.  From  beside  it, 
a  silvery  cascade  bounded  from  rock  to  rock  into  the  abyss 
below.  In  a  sunny  nook  at  the  bottom  appeared  a  little 
convent,  with  its  fruit  garden  for  the  luxury  of  the  parent 
one  above.  And  contrasted  with  it  just  in  the  back  ground, 
rose  up  a  lofty  mountain,  now  almost  hidden  from  our 
view  in  a  dreary  snow-squall  which  occasionally  scattered 
a  few  flakes  upon  us  as  an  earnest  of  to-morrow. 

The  remainder  of  our  descent,  through  bushes  and  over 
rocks,  was  still  steep  and  hazardous,  and  to  me  not  a  little 
fatiguing.  At  the  bottom,  where  we  expected  to  ford  a 
stream  that  had  been  murmuring  in  our  ears,  to  our  sur- 
prise none  was  to  be  found.  It  was  hid  from  our  view  by 
a  natural  bridge,  sixty  or  a  hundred  feet  above  it,  apparent- 
ly formed  by  some  mighty  convulsion  which  had  dislocated 
huge  masses  of  rock  from  the  mountains  above  and  chok- 
ed up  the  chasm.  Our  situation  on  its  top  afforded  no  in- 
teresting view  of  it,  and  we  amused  ourselves  at  our  Mo- 
hammedan muleteers,  whose  disappointment  at  finding  no 
river,  heightened  into  vexation  by  thirst,  was  increased  to 
absolute  rage  by  finding  some  twenty  or  thirty  hogs,  (the 
abomination  of  a  moslem,)  wallowing  in  the  only  accessible 
puddle,  and  grunting  at  them  as  they  appoached  to  drink. 
Had  not  the  ceremonial  and  physical  pollution  of  the  swine, 


24  CONVENT    OP    DATEV. 

however,  prevented  them  from  tasting,  it  would  have  been 
found  unpalatable,  for  it  came  from  a  warm  mineral  spring, 
that  issued  from  the  top  of  the  bridge.  The  only  ascent 
from  it  was  through  a  passage,  scooped  for  two  or  three 
rods  out  of  the  perpendicular  face  of  a  solid  rock,  and  so 
narrow  and  low  that  one  of  our  loaded  animals  fell,  and 
all  were  in  the  most  imminent  danger  of  being  precipitated 
over  the  low  balustrade  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  ravine 
below.  The  remainder  of  the  ascent,  though  steep  and 
difficult  for  the  poor  animals,  rather  refreshed  than  fatigued 
us.  We  reached  the  convent  of  Datev  at  sunset,  having 
rode  3  fursakhs  from  Karahoonch,  and  6  from  Degh. 

We  announced  ourselves  to  two  or  three  monks  who 
were  standing  in  the  court  of  the  convent,  as  American 
missionaries,  or  preachers ;  and  a  bishop  soon  came  out  to 
meet  us  with  a  welcome  and  his  blessing,  and  conducted 
us  to  his  room.  A  warm  fire  cheered,  and  an  excellent  cup 
of  tea  refreshed  us,  and  it  was  immediately  evident  that  no 
pains  would  be  spared  to  make  our  visit  agreeable.  With 
a  liberality  hardly  to  be  expected  in  a  convent  upon  a  fast 
day,  two  fowls  were  speedily  prepared  for  our  supper. 

The  bishop  of  Datev  had  died  a  few  days  before,  but 
our  host,  his  chorepiscopus  who  was  acting  in  his  place, 
gave  us  with  readiness  the  information  we  wished.  The 
see  is  named,  from  the  ancient  province  in  which  it  is 
situated,  the  see  of  Siinik,  and  it  was  here  that  bishop 
Stephen,  whose  history  of  the  Orpelians  forms  the  founda- 
tion of  Saint-Martin's  learned  Memoirs  upon  Armenia,  ex- 
ercised his  functions.  In  the  neighboring  village,  to  which 
the  convent  has  given  its  own  name  of  Datev,  there  is 
still  a  family  of  meliks  of  that  ancient  race,  descended 
probably  from  Eligoom  the  Orpelian,  who,  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  twelfth  century,  received  in  this  region  such  large 
estates  from  the  Atabeg  of  Aderbaijan.*     The  diocese  of 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  2:  p.  103. 


CONVERSATIONS    AT    DATEV.  25 

Siinik  now,  according  to  our  informant,  besides  dividing 
with  that  of  Kantsasar  the  province  of  Kara-bagh,  embraces 
the  province  of  Nakhchevan,  and  even  extends  across  the 
Aras.  It  once  contained  796  villages,  but  their  number 
has  been  reduced  by  transportation  to  Persia,  voluntary 
emigration  to  Turkey,  and  oppression  at  home,  to  74, 
which  are  served  by  only  62  priests.  There  is  no  school 
in  the  whole  diocese,  except  that  some  20  lads  from  the 
neighboring  villages  are  taught  in  this  convent.  The  con- 
vent itself  contains  two  bishops,  ten  vartabeds,  and  two 
deacons. 

To  our  surprise  the  bishop  not  only  knew  the  name  of 
America,  but  repeated  at  some  length  and  with  tolerable 
accuracy  the  history  of  its  discovery.  He  had  read  it  some 
time  before  at  Tiflis,  probably  from  Robertson's  History  of 
America,  which  has  been  printed  in  Armenian.  Like  most 
others  in  the  East  who  have  inquired  of  me  respecting 
America,  he  was  more  curious  to  be  informed  of  the  lan- 
guage, religion  and  character  of  the  aborigines,  than  res- 
pecting ourselves.  But  he  failed  not  to  ask  whether  we 
all  bore  the  name  of  Christians;  and  thus  betrayed  an 
almost  equal  ignorance  of  our  present  condition,  with  the 
lowest  peasants.  The  inquiry  was  followed  by  numerous 
questions  respecting  our  religious  state,  such  as,  whether 
we  had  churches,  priests,  &c.  He  seemed  somewhat 
staggered  to  learn  that  we  had  no  convents ;  and  when  we 
assured  him  that  bishops  among  us  are  married,  he  was 
amazed,  but,  with  the  consenting  voice  of  the  whole  circle 
of  monks,  pronounced  the  custom  a  good  one.  On  learn- 
ing that  we  had  several  thousand  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  a  still  greater  number  of  churches,  they  all  stared  with 
astonishment,  and  required  no  more  to  convince  them  of 
our  Christianity  or  orthodoxy. 

The  name  of  the  missionaries  at  Shoosha  being  mention- 
ed, he  was  disposed  to  laugh  at  the  idea  of  attempting  to 


26  CONVERSATIONS    AT    DATEV. 

convert  moslems.  Not  one,  he  said,  after  so  many  years  of 
labor  had  been  converted  ;  and  indeed  the  extreme  bigot- 
ry of  Mohammedanism  rendered  the  thing  impossible.  The 
same  opinion,  we  told  him,  once  prevailed  in  our  own 
country  respecting  the  conversion  of  the  aborigines,  but 
experiment  had  proved  its  incorrectness.  Instances  had 
occurred,  also,  of  missionary  efforts  remaining  fruitless  for 
fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  then  being  crowned  with  com- 
plete success.  But  the  Germans,  we  continued,  are  for- 
eigners ;  you  Armenians  are  the  proper  persons  to  undertake 
the  work,  as  your  constant  intercourse  with  them,  and  your 
rights  and  privileges  as  citizens  of  Russia,  give  you  great 
advantages.  Rights  and  privileges  !  he  replied ;  I  will  tell 
you  what  rights  and  privileges  we  have.  When  the  Russians 
took  the  country,  they  gave  to  the  Armenians  many  desert- 
ed moslem  villages,  where  they  consequently  settled  and 
built  churches.  But  the  moment  their  former  occupants 
return  from  Persia,  the  Armenians  are  obliged  to  yield 
their  claims  and  retire.  In  short,  we  have  abundant  evi- 
dence that  the  Russian  laws  give  us  no  advantage  over  the 
moslems.  We  inquired  if  they  had  ever  employed  mission- 
aries or  their  vartabeds  to  convert  them.  No,  he  replied,  and 
if  we  attempted  it  what  should  we  preach  to  them  1  They 
believe  in  God  now,  and  have  good  prayers.  We  could 
only  preach  to  them  the  Trinity,  and  the  divinity  of  Christ. 
We  reminded  him  that  Christianity  differs  in  many  other 
very  important  points,  from  Mohammedanism.  How  supe- 
rior, for  example,  is  the  heaven  of  the  Bible  to  that  of  the 
Koran.  His  answer  was  ;  Why  as  to  that,  I  will  tell  you 
what  a  vartabed  once  said  to  a  moslem.  '  If  I  were  sure 
that  your  paradise  is  a  reality,  I  should  wish  to  be  there  !' 
Shocked  at  such  levity  in  a  Christian  bishop,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  we  had  by  accident  touched  the  wrong  string  for 
a  convent,  we  were  silent.  We  would  gladly  have  contin- 
ued the  subject  of  missions,  however,  especially  as  it  might 


FAMILY   DEVOTIONS    OF    THE    ARMENIANS.  27 

now  lead  us  to  speak  of  many  important  doctrines,  but  the 
fatigue  of  the  day  and  the  lateness  of  the  hour  obliged  us 
to  desist.  Lodgings  were  assigned  us  where  we  had  been 
sitting,  and  four  of  us,  including  the  bishop,  stretched  our- 
selves upon  the  carpet  to  sleep,  in  a  space  hardly  large 
enough  to  contain  us. 

Nov.  4.  The  bishop  rose  before  light,  at  the  sound  of 
the  convent  bell,  to  attend  the  morning  devotions  of  the 
church  ;  but  in  his  room  neither  in  the  evening  nor  in  the 
morning  was  there  any  acknowledgment  of  divine  provi- 
dence, except  in  the  asking  of  a  blessing  upon  our  food. 
That  duty  he  seemed  to  consider  as  devolving  of  course 
upon  him.  It  was  done  while  he  was  looking  around  upon 
the  company,  and  with  so  little  reverence  that  my  compan- 
ion knew  not  what  he  was  doing  till  he  had  half  finished. 
My  own  experience  in  convent  devotions  prepared  me  to 
expect  it,  as  a  customary  civility  to  strangers,  and  prevent- 
ed me  from  being  surprised,  though  not  from  being  shock- 
ed, at  such  gross  indecorum.  As  I  have  often  witnessed 
elsewhere  in  similar  circumstances,  he  wished  us  a  good 
appetite  at  the  close,  without  a  pause  or  a  change  of  tone, 
as  if  it  formed  the  concluding  sentence  of  his  prayer. 
Family  prayer,  as  practised  by  us,  is  believed  to  be  un- 
known among  the  Armenians ;  and  the  same,  it  is  feared, 
may  be  said  also  of  private  devotions.  Not  uncommonly, 
however,  in  these  parts,  one  or  more  members  of  a  family 
repeat,  either  individually  or  in  concert,  before  lying  down 
at  night,  so  much  as  they  can  recollect  of  the  long  prayer 
of  Nerses  Shnorhali,  which  forms  a  part  of  the  ninth  ser- 
vice of  the  church.  It  is  in  fact  the  usual  substitute  for 
the  whole  of  that  service.  If  ignorance  or  disinclination 
prevent  this  formal  attempt  at  prayer,  a  simple  sign  of  the 
cross  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity,  is  the  only  act  of  devotion 
with  which  they  commit  themselves  to  the  slumbers  of  the 
night.     The  same  superstitious  ceremony  is  believed,  also, 


28  DESCRIPTION    OF   THE    CONVENT. 

to  be  their  only  mode  of  asking  a  blessing  and  returing 
thanks  at  table,  unless  an  ecclesiastic  is  present  to  go 
through  the  mockery  just  described. 

We  delayed  an  hour  or  two  in  the  morning  to  examine 
the  convent.  The  cells  of  the  monks,  store  rooms  and 
stables,  composing  buildings  of  different  ages  and  forms, 
surround  a  square  court-yard,  in  which  stands  the  church, 
the  pride  of  the  establishment.  The  traditions  of  the  na- 
tion assert  that  the  convent  was  founded  by  St.  Eustathius, 
one  of  the  seventy  disciples  who  accompanied  the  apostle 
Thaddeus  into  Armenia,  and  derived  from  him  its  name  of 
Datev,  or  Sdatev.*  And  the  bishop  this  morning  showed 
us  a  stone  in  the  outer  wall  of  the  church  with  the  num- 
ber 58  upon  it,  as  proof  of  its  claim  to  that  early  origin. 
Still  he  did  not  attribute  to  the  present  church  any  greater 
age  than  944  years ;  and  allowed  that  it  is  not  the  oldest 
of  the  buildings  now  standing.  It  is  in  the  style  of  archi- 
tecture already  described  at  Tiflis ;  its  walls  of  hewn  stone 
are  of  extreme  solidity  and  thickness ;  and  its  arches  and 
domes,  and  its  proportions  throughout,  are  grand  and  in 
good  taste.  Subsequent  observation  confirmed  the  assertion 
of  the  bishop,  that  its  architecture  is  better  than  that  of 
the  church  of  Echmiadzin,  and  in  fact  we  found  it  surpass- 
ed by  no  building  in  the  country.  It  was  almost  destitute 
of  the  usual  ornaments,  having  been  plundered  by  the  Per- 
sians in  the  last  war ;  and  several  parts  of  its  walls  showed 
on  the  inner  side  marks  of  fires,  built  by  the  same  invaders 
to  deface  or  profane  it.  The  monks  were  upon  that  occa- 
sion treated  with  great  indignities;  and  the  bishop  just 
dead,  after  suffering  many  tortures,  was  carried  captive  to 
Tebriz.  We  inquired  until  we  were  weary  for  the  li- 
brary, and  though  repeatedly  promised  that  it  should  be 
showed  to  us,  we  finally  left  without  a  sight  of  it. 

Permit  me  to  avail  myself  of  this  advantageous  position 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  8. 


ORDERS    OF    THE    ARMENIAN    CLERGY,  '29 

to  give  you  an  account  of  the  Armenian  convents  in  gen- 
eral. A  brief  statement  of  the  different  orders  of  their 
inmates  may  serve  as  an  introduction.  In  the  Armenian 
clerical  orders  below  the  deacons,  there  are  four  grades^ 
the  occupants  of  which  are  named  respectively,  porters, 
readers,  adjurers  or  exorcists,  and  candle-holders.  All  how- 
ever are  frequently  embraced  in  the  generic  name  of  clerk,  or 
in  the  common  language  diratsoo,  which  means,  one  designed 
for  the  priesthood,  a  candidate.  Invert  their  order,  and  they 
exactly  correspond  with  the  ordines  minores  of  the  papal 
church,  which  are  acolythi,  exorcistae,  lectores,,  and  ostiarii. 
The  duty  of  each  respectively,  is  to  open  the  doors  of  the 
church  and  prepare  it  for  divine  worship,  to  chant  parts  of 
the  church  service,  to  prepare  the  font  for  baptism,  and  to 
light  and  extinguish  the  candles.  In  other  words,  they  act 
the'part  of  the  anagnostes  in  the  Greek,  and  of  the  clerk 
in  the  English  church.  A  bishop  only  can  confer  upon 
them  their  office,  and  he  does  it  by  prayer  and  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  But  no  vow  of  celibacy  is  connected  with 
the  ceremony,  marriage  either  before  or  after  it  being  sub- 
ject only  to  the  same  rules  as  that  of  laymen ;  and  every 
one  is  at  liberty  to  throw  off  the  ecclesiastical  character  he 
thus  acquires,  and  to  return  to  the  world  as  if  he  had  never 
had  any  duties  in  the  church.  These  duties  indeed  are 
frequently  performed  in  parishes  by  whomsoever  the  priests 
chance  to  invite,  without  their  being  previously  consecrated ; 
and  generally,  in  fact,  as  we  have  already  seen,  they  de- 
volve upon  boys.  Persons  occupying  these  grades  are 
found  in  all  convents,  and  are  boys  sent  thither  to  be  in- 
structed and  brought  up.  They  cannot,  of  course,  be  con- 
sidered monks,  or  permanent  residents ;  though  many  of 
them  ultimately  take  the  vow  of  chastity. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  grades  are  those  of  the  sub-dea- 
con and  deacon.  The  duties  of  the  former  are,  to  dress  the 
priest  for  mass,  and  to  serve  the  deacon  in  his  various  du- 

VOL.  II.  4 


30  ORDERS    OF    THE    ARMENIAN    CLERGY. 

ties.  Candidates  for  the  deaconship  usually  remain,  how- 
ever, so  short  a  time  in  this  grade,  that  it  has  virtually  be- 
come almost  extinct.  The  duties  of  the  deacon,  are  to 
serve  the  priest  at  the  mass,  by  bringing  to  him  the  cup 
and  wafer  to  be  consecrated,  by  reading  the  Gospel,  &c. 
This  grade  too  is  little  known  except  in  convents  and  cities. 
In  country  parishes  candidates  usually  pass  immediately 
on  to  the  priesthood.  Both  can  be  conferred  only  by  the 
laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  bishop  and  prayer.  No  one 
can  marry  after  entering  the  first,  nor  can  he  go  back  to 
the  rank  of  layman.  All  sub-deacons  and  deacons  in  con- 
vents, therefore,  are  to  be  classed  among  their  regular  and 
permanent  inhabitants.  In  nunneries  an  order  of  dea- 
conesses, likewise,  is  said  to  be  known,  who  read  prayers 
for  the  inmates  of  those  establishments.  No  other  deacon- 
esses are  found   in   the  church. 

The  seventh  grade  is  that  of  priest;  preparatory  to 
which  the  six  preceding  must  have  been  passed  through, 
though  the  time  of  remaining  in  them  is  not  fixed,  and  all 
may  be,  and  often  are  passed  in  a  day.  The  parish  priests 
will  be  spoken  of  elsewhere.  Only  those  who  are  unmar- 
ried on  entering  the  grade  of  sub-deacon,  and  of  course 
become  by  that  act  bound  to  a  life  of  celibacy,  come  with- 
in the  scope  of  my  present  object.  They  constitute  the 
monastic  priesthood,  and  are  always  connected  with  con- 
vents. Their  distinctive  name  is  vartabed ;  though  that 
title  is  vulgarly  applied  also  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  convents 
who  wear  the  conical  hood,  whether  in  priest's  or  bishop's 
orders.  It  signifies  a  doctor  or  teacher,  and  is  indicative 
of  their  peculiar  business.  For  they,  in  distinction  from 
the  parish  clergy,  are  the  preachers  of  the  church.  That 
duty,  however,  devolves  principally  upon  the  highest  of  the 
three  grades  into  which  they  are  subdivided.  The  lowest 
are  merely  unmarried  priests ;  and  though  honored  with 


ORDERS    OF    THE    ARMENIAN    CLERGY.  31 

the  title  of  vartabed,  are  never  called  to  the  important  du- 
ties which  it  implies. 

The  eighth  grade  is  that  of  bishop.  Those  who  are  ad- 
mitted to  it  are  always  selected  from  the  vartabeds,  and 
are  of  course  invariably  unmarried.  Their  special  duty  is 
to  ordain  the  seven  grades  below  them ;  they  being  them- 
selves ordained  only  by  the  Catholicos.  They  are  subdivi- 
ded into  many  different  ranks  of  honor  and  office,  among 
which  are  the  chorepiscopi,  who  act  as  aids  and  col- 
leagues to  diocesan  bishops ;  archbishops,  a  name  applied 
to  almost  all  who  have  dioceses ;  and  patriarchs,  who  are 
clothed  with  authority  by  the  civil  government  over  a  large 
extent  of  country.  Many  common  bishops  besides  are 
to  be  found,  who  have  no  dioceses,  and  were  ordained 
with  no  prospect  of  any,  but  discharge  merely  the  duties 
of  common  monks.  All,  of  whatever  rank,  reside  in  con- 
vents, and  are  to  be  classed  among  their  inhabitants. — 
The  ninth  grade  is  that  of  Catholicos^  of  which  we  shall 
take  a  nearer  view  at  Echmiadzin. 

,  Lay  monks  form  no  part  of  the  Armenian  monastic 
system.  Now  and  then  indeed  an  anchorite  is  to  be  found, 
and  more  frequently  other  individuals  make  a  vow  to  re- 
side for  a  time  in  a  convent.  But  their  mode  of  life,  and 
the  length  of  their  continuance  in  it,  both  remain  subject 
only  to  their  individual  choice.  Laymen  bound  by  vows 
to  perpetual  celibacy,  subjected  to  the  laws  of  regular 
monastic  orders,  and  attached  for  life  to  convents,  are  not, 
so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn,  at  present  known 
among  the  Armenians. 

An  interesting  question,  suggested  by  this  view  of  the 
orders  of  the  Armenian  clergy,  demands  here  a  moment's 
attention.  What  more  general  classification  of  the  nine 
grades  now  enumerated,  is  recognized  by  the  Armenians  ? 
The  secretary  of  the  Catholicos,  one  of  the  most  in- 
telligent of  the  vartabeds  at  Echmiadzin,  replied  to  this 


32  ORDERS    OF    THE    ARMENIAN    CLERGY. 

question,  that  all  the  clergy  belong  either  to  the  dea- 
conkood  or  priesthood,  i.  e.  either  to  the  class  which  can, 
or  to  that  which  cannot,  say  mass ;  and  he  denied  that 
any  triple  classification  is  recognized.  Two  of  the  most 
intelligent  bishops  we  have  found,  firmly  denied  the  pro- 
priety of  any  classification  into  less  than  seven  divisions ; 
which  are  the  seven  lower  grades,,  the  bishops  and  catholi- 
cos  being  considered  only  as  branches  of  the  seventh  grade 
or  priesthood,  differing  in  dignity.  And  the  leading  varta- 
beds  of  one  convent  assented  to  the  idea,  that  all  above 
deacons  are  merely  priests  of  different  dignity.  Only  one 
indvidual,  an  old  bishop  at  Echmiadzin,  admitted  three 
general  orders ;  and  he  knew  not  in  which  of  them  some 
of  the  grades  should  be  classed.  Indeed,  the  idea  seemed 
to  have  been  first  suggested  to  him  by  our  question,  and  to 
have  pleased  him  from  its  analogy  to  Paul's  triple  division 
of  heaven,  the  reason  he  assigned  for  admitting  a  triple 
classification  of  the  clergy.  If  we  say  there  is  an  essential 
difference  between  the  priest  and  the  bishop,,  because  the 
fatter  only  can  ordain  the  former,  we  must  admit,  for  the 
same  reason,  as  essential  a  difference  between  the  bishop 
and  the  Catholicos.  If  we  go  to  the  ordination  ceremony 
of  each  grade,  and  regard  its  essence  as  consisting  in  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  as  its  name  in  Armenian  imports,  we 
can  make  no  general  classification,  for  each  of  the  nine 
grades  is  conferred  by  the  imposition  of  hands.  If  anoint- 
ing with  oil  be  regarded  as  the  essential  part  of  ordination, 
we  shall  then  leave  out  the  first  six  grades  entirely,  and 
have  the  priests,  bishops,  and  Catholicos  for  the  three  cardin- 
al orders,  since  they  and  they  only  are  anointed  with  meiron 
at  ordination.  The  tonsure  cannot  be  regarded  as  an 
essential  part  of  ordination  in  any  case  among  the  Arme- 
nians, though  it  is  customarily  performed  upon  those  who 
are  admitted  to  one  of  the  four  lowest  grades.  A  shaven 
crown  is  often  seen  among  the  common  people. 


CHARACTER   AND    INFLUENCE    OF    CONVENTS.  33 

The  primary  design  of  convents  was  to  promote  the  piety 
of  their  inmates,  by  enabling  them  to  renounce  the  world 
and  spend  a  life  of  devotion  and  holy  meditation.  As 
a  secondary  object,  they  have  sometimes  aided  in  the 
work  of  education,  and  the  promotion  of  science.  The 
first  idea  springs  from  an  entirely  mistaken  view  of  the 
nature  of  man  and  of  Christianity,  and  we  are  therefore 
not  surprised  at  its  complete  failure.  Probably  not  an  in- 
stance can  be  found  in  Armenia,  where  the  retirement  of 
a  convent  is  improved  for  purposes  of  devotion.  Instead  of 
being  retreats  from  the  passions  that  agitate  the  world,  con- 
vents are  the  very  centres  of  the  most  unprincipled  ambition, 
of  the  darkest  intrigue,  and  of  the  bitterest  envy.  Their 
history  is  but  a  tissue  of  quarrelling  and  dissension.  Erect- 
ed for  purposes  of  selfdenial,  no  where,  so  often  as  in  them, 
is  the  question  asked,  "  What  shall  we  eat,  or  what  shall 
we  drink,  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?"  If  the 
funds  are  at  hand,  no  one,  sooner  than  a  monk,  furnishes 
himself  with  good  dinners  and  splendid  robes.  Under  the 
veil  of  celibacy,  is  covered  every  species  of  unchastity. 
Of  this  so  thoroughly  are  even  the  common  people  con- 
vinced, that  no  man,  we  were  assured,  puts  confidence  in  the 
continence  of  a  vartabed  in  his  intercourse  with  his  family. 
So  infamous  is  Echmiadzin  for  unnatural  vice,  that  we 
heard  it  assigned  as  the  reason  for  its  having  no  school. 
Parents  are  reluctant  to  send  their  sons  thither.  In  a  word, 
they  are  '  holds  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  cages  of  every  un- 
clean and  hateful  bird.'  They  can,  of  course,  exert  no  good 
influence  upon  the  religion  of  the  people.  According  to 
the  rules  of  the  Armenian  church,  indeed,  monastic  priests 
are  never  allowed  to  have  charge  of  a  parish.  With  only 
occasional  exceptions,  therefore,  they  say  mass,  confess,  &c. 
merely  in  convents,  where  they  are  expected  always  to 
reside.  The  special  duty  of  the  high  vartabeds  is  to 
preach;   and  instances  have  been  known  of  their  going 

VOL.  II.  4* 


34  CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE    OF    CONVENTS. 

through  the  country,  in  the  discharge  of  it,  not  only  with- 
out orders  from  their  superiors,  but  even  under  their  perse- 
cuting opposition.  But,  alas  I  no  such  instances  now  exist. 
They  preach  only  when  ordered  by  the  bishops.  The 
object  of  their  orders  will  appear  when  we  speak  of  the 
diocesans. 

Instead  of  contributing  to  enlighten  their  nation  by 
schools,  or  the  publication  of  books,  or,  which  is  the  least 
that  should  be  expected  of  them,  serving  as  seminaries  for 
the  education  of  the  clergy,  the  convents  of  Armenia  are 
themselves  seats  of  great  ignorance.  The  deacons,  who 
are  supposed  to  occupy  in  them  the  place  of  learners,  in- 
stead of  being  kept  to  their  studies,  are  employed  in  the 
fields,  or  in  going  on  errands,  or  in  other  menial  services 
for  the  monks,  so  as  generally  to  get  no  more  than  one  or 
two  lessons  in  a  week,  and  in  some  cases  none  at  all. 
Hence,  when  advanced  to  the  grade  of  vartabed,  they  have 
very  little  knowledge  at  the  best,  and  sometimes  are  hardly 
able  to  read.  They  are  indeed  required  by  the  canons  to 
be  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures,  and  to  believe  what  the 
fathers  of  their  church  have  taught,  which  implies  that  they 
have  read  them ;  but  very  few  in  fact  have  done  so,  or  are 
acquainted  with  the  ancient  language  in  which  they  are  writ- 
ten. The  vartabeds  themselves  very  rarely  study  or  read 
at  all,  and  are  therefore  advanced  to  the  episcopate  in  the 
same  state  of  ignorance.  In  a  word,  visit  the  library  of  any 
convent,  and  you  would  almost  be  persuaded  that  none  of 
the  monks  are  aware  that  the  books  it  contains  were  made 
to  be  read.  The  solitary  old  vartabed  of  St.  Hagop,  already 
mentioned,  is  an  honorable  exception  to  the  general  indif- 
ference of  his  brethren  to  their  own  and  their  countrymen's 
intellectual  improvement.  In  the  convent  of  Sevan,  too, 
there  is  a  vartabed  who  devotes  himself  to  teaching.  But 
these  are  only  glimmering  tapers  in  a  starless  night  of  ig- 
norance. 


DIOCESAN    BISHOPS.  35 

To  complete  our  view  of  the  Armenian  monastic  clergy, 
a  few  remarks  need  to  be  added  upon  diocesan  bishops,  who 
also,  when  practicable,  always  reside  in  convents.  Being 
selected  from  the  mass  of  bishops  with  which  all  the  large 
convents  are  stocked,  more  through  the  influence  of  in- 
trigue, money,  or  respectability  of  family,  than  out  of  regard 
to  real  merit,  they  are  apt  to  be  as  ignorant  as  their  com- 
panions, and  sometimes  actually  know  little  or  nothing  of 
the  ancient  language,  or  of  the  books  contained  in  it.  A 
young  wekeel  of  intelligence  and  education  supplies  their 
deficiencies,  and  transacts  their  business.  Their  habits  and 
moral  character  are  not  known  to  differ  at  all  from  those 
of  the  other  inhabitants  of  convents.  One  was  not  long 
since  sent  from  Echmiadzin  to  a  neighboring  diocese,  to 
act  as  colleague  to  an  aged  bishop,  who  had  reached  his 
dotage.  He  first  beat  the  old  man  into  a  disclosure  of  his 
treasures,  and  then  forced  him  to  leave  his  diocese  entirely. 
Two  vartabeds  died  suddenly  soon  after,  as  if  by  poison  ; 
and  the  new  bishop,  with  a  haughty  contempt  of  public 
opinion,  carried  his  dissoluteness  to  the  extent  of  keeping 
mistresses  openly  in  his  convent.  The  people  at  last  made 
their  complaints  to  be  heard  by  government,  and  he  was 
recalled  to  Echmiadzin.  Love  of  gain  and  of  pleasure  is 
rarely  carried  by  bishops,  it  is  true,  to  this  excess  of  open 
violence  and  debauchery;  but  with  hardly  an  exception, 
they  use  every  practicable  quiet  method  of  fleecing  their 
flocks,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  view  of  their  sources  of  in- 
come. 

A  diocesan's  establishment  consists  of  all  the  inmates  of 
the  convent  in  which  he  resides,  and  he  is  believed  to  have 
no  purse  distinct  from  its  general  treasury.  Taking  into 
the  account,  therefore,  that  all  its  expences  are  drawn  from 
his  resources,  we  may  reckon  his  jirst  source  of  income  to 
be  the  funds  of  his  convent.  Convents  are  generally  pos- 
sessed of  property,  in  lands,  tenants  and  live  stock,  which 


36  INCOME   OF  DIOCESAN    BISHOPS. 

affords  the  only  support  of  their  inmates,  unless  the  resi- 
dence of  a  bishop,  or  the  possession  of  some  object  of  pil- 
grimage gives  them  other  resources.  The  convent  of  Da- 
tev  owns  sixteen  villages,  including  that  of  Datev  itself, 
from  which  it  received  under  the  Persian  government  both 
the  capitation  and  the  land  taxes.  The  whole  of  the  for- 
mer, and  half  of  the  latter,  is  now  claimed  by  the  Russian 
emperor.  Still,  the  convent  is  supposed  to  have  derived 
from  them  in  1830,  about  500  chetverts  (150,000  lbs.)  of 
grain. — A  second  source  of  income  is  ordination  fees.  No 
bishop,  it  is  believed,  ordains  a  priest  without  pay.  The 
bishop  of  Kantsasar  will  ordain  no  one  for  less  than  fifty 
silver  roubles,  (about  $37.50,)  and  whoever  will  contribute 
that  sum  is  pretty  sure  to  receive  the  imposition  of  his 
hands.  The  bishop  of  Datev  also  demands  fifty,  or  at  the 
least  twenty-five  silver  roubles.  Such  universal  simony, 
besides  converting  the  episcopate  into  an  office  for  the  sale 
of  benefices,  introduces  the  most  unworthy  men  into  the 
sacred  profession,  and  multiplies  the  priests  far  beyond  the 
number  which  can  be  so  supported  as  to  leave  them  free 
for  the  duties  of  their  profession. — The  third  is  marriage 
fees.  No  person  can  marry  without  a  license  from  his 
bishop,  for  which  in  ordinary  cases  he  must  pay,  in  this 
vicinity,  a  silver  rouble,  (about  75  cts.)  And  besides,  the 
church  has  so  multiplied  the  prohibited  degrees  of  affinity, 
as  to  leave  a  man  but  a  very  limited  circle  from  which  to 
select  his  wife,  unless  he  infringe  upon  some  canon,  and 
an  sxtra  sum  only  will  obtain  the  necessary  license  to  do 
that.*  A  widower,  moreover,  can  take  a  virgin  only  by 
paying  his  bishop  well  for  the  forbidden  privilege  ;  nothing 

*  The  Jesuit  missionaries  say,  that  in  the  Armenian  church,  marriage 
between  persons  related  by  blood  to  the  fourth  degree,  by  marriage  to  the 
third  degree,  by  spiritual  adoption,  (standing  sponsors  at  baptism,)  to  the 
third  degree,  and  by  legal  adoption  to  the  second  degree,  is  forbidden.  See 
Lett.  Ed.  et  Cur. 


THEIR    INFLUENCE.  37 

but  a  handsome  present  will  render  a  third  marriage  legal ; 
and  the  expence  of  a  fourth  can  be  borne  only  by  the  very 
rich. — The  fourth  is  the  inheritance  of  all  who  die  child* 
less.  At  the  death  of  every  man  something  usually  goes  to 
the  bishop.  If  a  man  die  without  children,  real  or  adopt- 
ed, he  claims  his  whole  estate,  except  a  seventh  which  falls 
to  the  widow. — The  fifth  is  from  the  death  of  priests.  All 
the  clothes  and  furniture  of  a  deceased  priest  go  at  once  to 
the  bishop.  Then,  in  this  vicinity,  fifteen  silver  roubles 
are  demanded  for  the  funeral  sacrifice,  which  however  the 
bishop  never  makes,  but  pockets  the  money.  And  besides, 
he  exacts  four  and  a  half  silver  roubles  for  the  grave,  and 
the  same  sum  for  the  burial  service.  Reflect  now  that  the 
priests  are  perhaps  never  freeholders,  and  you  will  see  that 
the  bishops  get  nearly  or  quite  all  their  estates. — They  re- 
ceive, also,  by  means  of  charity-boxes  in  the  churches,  and 
through  other  mediums,  occasional  contributions  from  the 
people.  And  in  some  parts  of  Turkey  they  regularly  sell 
each  parish  to  its  priest  for  a  stipulated  price  per  annum, 
besides  claiming  a  fixed  per-centage  of  all  baptismal  and 
other  fees.  That  such  is  their  practice  in  Armenia,  I  can- 
not affirm.  In  fact,  you  must  regard  this  view  of  the  in- 
come of  bishops  as  imperfect ;  the  particular  sums,  espe- 
cially, are  probably  true  of  only  one  or  two  dioceses. 

You  will  ask,  what  spiritual  services  do  the  diocesans 
render  their  people,  in  return  for  so  much  money  extracted 
from  them  ?  It  is  said  that  they  sometimes  preach  upon 
special  occasions,  but  we  heard  of  no  instance,  except  at 
Tebriz.  They  sometimes  send  out  their  vartabeds  to 
preach,  and  make  visitations  as  their  vicars,  but  very  rare- 
ly, and  then  only  to  collect  contributions.  Not  an  instance 
is  known  where  a  bishop  keeps  his  vartabeds  preaching  for 
the  instruction  of  his  charge.  So  that,  instead  of  hearing  the 
gospel  proclaimed,  the  people  rarely  listen  to  a  sermon,  the 
sole  object  of  which  is  not,  to  get  money.   If  ever  the  bishop 


OC  INFLUENCE    OF  DIOCESAN    BISHOPS. 

makes  a  visitation  of  his  diocese  in  person,  it  has  the  same 
pecuniary  object.  The  result  is,  that  his  approach,  or  that 
of  his  vicar,  is  looked  upon  as  a  great  calamity.  As  con- 
firmation, however,  in  the  Armenian  church,  devolves  not 
upon  bishops,  and  as  ordination,  their  principal  duty,  can 
be  done  in  their  convents,  they  never,  in  these  parts,  trouble 
themselves  with  personally  visiting  their  dioceses. 

With  such  a  view  of  the  character  of  the  bishops  of  Arme- 
nia before  you,  you  will  be  sorry  that  I  am  obliged  to  add, that 
their  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  people  is  very  great. 
In  some  instances,  indeed,  the  voice  of  the  laity  is  sufficiently 
loud  to  overrule  their  wishes,  but  they  are  extremely  rare. 
Ignorance  and  superstition  are  generally  too  prevalent,  to 
allow  resistance  or  disobedience  to  be  thought  of.  The 
respect  yielded  to  them,  however,  is  the  effect  of  fear  rather 
than  of  esteem.  With  them  is  lodged  the  tremendous 
power  of  excommunication,  which  is  believed  both  to  shut 
the  gates  of  heaven  effectually  against  all  who  incur  its 
anathemas,  and  to  bring  along  with  it  the  severest  temporal 
judgment  upon  their  persons  and  property. 

I  am  happy  to  close  these  remarks  upon  the  monasti- 
cism  of  Armenia,  by  assuring  you  that  it  is  on  the  decline. 
A  new  convent  was  not  heard  of  or  seen  by  us,  in  any  part 
of  that  country ;  but  in  every  province  the  ruins  of  old  ones 
were  numerous.  While  only  the  three  already  mentioned 
in  Kara-bagh  are  inhabited,  five  have  gone  to  decay.  And 
the  province  of  Erivan,  which  150  years  ago  contained 
twenty-three  for  men  and  five  for  women,*  now  has  but 
ten,  among  which  are  no  nunneries.  Indeed,  the  only 
Armenian  nunneries  we  heard  of  any  where,  are  the  two 
small  establishments  at  Tiflis  and  Shoosha. 

*  Chardin,  vol.  2:  p.  177. 


LETTER   XIII. 

FROM      DATEV     TO     NAKHCHEVAN. 

Village  of  Datev — Lor — Substitute  for  ovens  and  fireplaces — An  evening 
conversation — The  Armenian  parish  clergy — Their  appointment — Qualifi- 
cations— Habits  and  character — Duties — Incomes — Former  state  of  Lor 
— Low  diet  of  the  common  people — Condition  of  the  Armenian  females 
— Beautiful  winter  scenery — Sisiyan — Hospitality  of  the  mountaineers — 
Reception  at  Shaghad — Observance  of  the  Sabbath — Attendance  on  public 
worship— Descent  from  the  mountains — Selasiz — Commencement  of  Per- 
sian manners — Arrival  at  Nakhchevan. 

Dear  Sib, 

We  left  the  convent  of  Datev,  at  10  A.  M.  on  the  morn* 
ing  of  the  4th  of  November,  my  last  date.  The  bishop  ac- 
companied us  to  the  village  of  Datev,  about  a  mile  distant, 
whither  he  was  going  to  attend  the  last  of  the  first  eight 
masses  said  for  the  soul  of  his  deceased  superior.  It  con- 
tains according  to  one  informant  50,  and  according  to  an- 
other SO  houses.  As  we  stopped  only  a  moment  for  a 
guide,  we  had  no  apportunity  to  examine  it.  A  rain  that 
had  been  drizzling  all  the  morning,  now  became  a  driving 
snow  storm,  which  completely  impeded  our  prospect  the 
remainder  of  our  ride.  With  difficulty  we  climbed  a 
mountain  ridge,  where  the  snow  was  already  of  consider- 
able depth,  and  the  wind  and  cold  oppressive ;  and  then,  by 
a  declivity  fearfully  steep,  descended  into  the  bottom  of  a 
deep  confined  valley,  where  we  found  the  quiet  village  of 
Lor,  at  2  P.  M. 

Our  muleteers,  not  at  all  to  our  dissatisfaction,  refused 
on  account  of  the  storm  to  go  farther,  although  we  had 


40  SUBSTITUTE    FOR   OVENS    AND    FIREPLACES. 

rode  but  two  fursakhs;  and  we  called  upon  the  kakhia 
for  lodgings.  He  welcomed  us  hospitably  to  his  own  fam- 
ily room.  It  was  under  ground,  like  all  the  houses  of 
these  mountains,  and  lighted  only  by  an  open  sky-light 
in  the  centre,  through  which  the  snow  was  continually  fall- 
ing. In  different  parts,  piles  of  grain  were  heaped  upon 
the  ground,  which  formed  the  floor.  Here  a  deep  wicker 
basket  plastered  with  mud  and  cow-dung,  answered  the 
purpose  of  a  flour-barrel ;  there  was  a  large  chest  of  bread, 
the  principal  food  of  the  family.  In  a  dark  corner  was  a 
pile  of  carpets,  matresses,  cushions  and  coverlets  for  their 
accommodation  at  night;  and  in  another  direction  stood 
a  cradle,  with  its  crying  contents. 

What  attracted  our  attention  most  this  stormy  day,  was 
the  apparatus  for  warming  us.  It  was  the  species  of  oven 
called  tannoor,  common  throughout  Armenia  and  also 
in  Syria,  but  converted  here  for  purposes  of  warmth  into 
what  is  called  a  tandoor.  A  cylindrical  hole  is  sunk  about 
three  feet  in  the  ground  in  some  part  of  the  room,  with 
a  flue  entering  it  at  the  bottom  to  convey  a  current  of  air 
to  the  fire  which  heats  it.  For  the  emission  of  smoke 
no  other  provision  is  made  than  the  open  sky-light  in  the 
terrace.  When  used  for  baking  bread,  the  dough,  being 
flattened  to  the  thickness  of  common  pasteboard  perhaps 
a  foot  and  a  half  long  by  a  foot  broad,  is  stuck  to  its 
smooth  sides  by  means  of  a  cushion  japon  which  it  is  first 
spread.  It  indicates,  by  cleaving  off,  when  it  is  done,  and 
being  then  packed  down  in  the  family  chest,  it  lasts  at 
least  a  month  in  the  winter  and  ten  days  in  the  summer. 
Such  is  the  only  bread  known  in  the  villages  of  Armenia ; 
and  even  the  cities  of  Erivan  and  Tebriz  .offer  no  other 
variety  than  a  species  perhaps  only  twice  as  thick,  and  so 
long  that  it  might  almost  be  sold  by  the  yard.  To  bake  it, 
the  bottom  of  a  large  oven  is  covered  with  pebbles,  (except 
one  corner  where  a  fire  is  kept  constantly  burning,)  and 


EVENING   CONVERSATION.  41 

upon  them  when  heated,  the  sheets  of  dough  are  spread. 
The  convenience  of  such  thin  bread,  where  knives  and 
forks  are  not  used  and  spoons  are  rare,  is  that  a  piece  of 
it  doubled  enables  you  to  take  hold  of  a  mouthful  of  meat 
more  delicately  than  with  your  bare  fingers;  or,  when 
properly  folded,  helps  you  to  convey  a  spoonful  safely  to  your 
mouth  to  be  eaten  with  the  spoon  itself.  When  needed  for 
purposes  of  warmth,  the  tannoor  is  easily  transformed  into 
a  tandoor.  A  round  stone  is  laid  upon  the  mouth  of  the 
oven,  when  well  heated,  to  stop  the  draught ;  a  square  frame 
about  a  foot  in  height  is  then  placed  above  it ;  and 
a  thick  coverlet,  spread  over  the  whole,  lies  upon  the 
ground  around  it,  to  confine  the  warmth.  The  family  squat 
upon  the  floor,  and  warm  themselves  by  extending  their 
legs  and  hands  into  the  heated  air  beneath  it,  while  the 
frame  holds,  as  occasion  requires,  their  lamp  or  their  food. 
Its  economy  is  evidently  great.  So  full  of  crevices  are  the 
houses,  that  an  open  fireplace  must  consume  a  great  quan- 
tity of  fuel,  and  then  almost  fail  of  warming  even  the  air 
in  its  immediate  vicinity.  The  tandoor,  heated  once  or  at 
the  most  twice  in  twenty-four  hours  by  a  small  quantity  of 
fuel,  keeps  one  spot  continually  warm  for  the  relief  of  all 
numb  fingers  and  frozen  toes. 

Seated  in  the  family  circle  with  our  host,  his  wife  and 
children,  and  a  few  neighbors,  around  the  tandoor,  we 
passed  an  interesting  evening.  He  was  the  son  of  one 
of  the  priests  of  the  village,  was  a  sober-minded  think- 
ing man,  and  possessed  much  more  information  than  one 
would  expect  to  find  in  such  a  place.  His  own  inclination 
gave  the  conversation  a  serious  turn,  and  to  prove  or  illus- 
trate the  various  topics  discussed,  he  brought  forth  and  fre- 
quently referred  to  the  family  Bible ;  a  treasure  which  we 
found  in  no  other  instance  in  Armenia,  and  even  here 
perhaps  an  unwillingness  to  think  that  it  does  not  exist, 
rather  than  the  real  circumstances  of  the  case,  induce  me 

VOL.  II.  5 


42  EVENING   CONVERSATION. 

to  use  the  name.  It  was  a  quarto  printed  at  Moscow  and 
given  by  the  missionaries  at  Shoosha  to  the  father  of  our 
host ;  and  though  in  the  ancient  dialect,  we  found  him 
able  to  understand  it,  and  somewhat  acquainted  with  its 
contents.  His  seriousness  made  him  a  promising  subject 
for  missionary  instruction  ;  and  that  his  candor  was  en- 
couraging, may  be  shown  by  the  effect  which  only  one  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  had  upon  his  mind.  Having  learned 
from  Antonio  that  bishops  in  our  country  are  married,  he 
appealed  to  us  with  the  greatest  astonishment,  for  the  rea- 
son of  so  uncanonical  a  practice.  We  simply  referred 
him  to  1  Tim.  3  :  2.  After  examining  it  attentively,  his  as- 
tonishment was  completely  reversed,  and  he  asked  us  with 
quite  as  great  anxiety,  why  the  Armenian  church  had  for- 
bidden the  custom.  We  replied,  that  in  the  face  of  such 
plain  passages  of  Scripture  we  could  not  be  responsible 
for  its  decisions,  and  he  must  ask  his  own  bishops  the  rea- 
son of  them. 

Finding  that  the  conversation  had  continued,  before  we 
were  aware,  to  a  late  hour,  we  apologized  for  breaking  in 
upon  his  hours  of  sleep.  But  he  assured  us  that  neither  he 
nor  his  family  were  at  all  incommoded,  for  his  father  some- 
times entertained  them  till  almost  morning  by  reading  and 
religious  conversation.  This  declaration,  added  to  the 
character  which  the  old  gentleman  had  impressed  upon  his 
son,  made  us  extremely  regret  that  his  having  gone  to  the 
mass  at  Datev,  and  being  prevented  by  the  storm  from  re- 
turning, deprived  us  of  an  opportunity  of  seeing  him. 
Our  host  assigned  us  our  lodgings  for  the  night  upon  car- 
pets around  the  four  sides  of  the  tandoor ;  where,  warmed 
by  its  heat  and  the  furs  in  which  we  wrapped  ourselves,  we 
slept  comfortably  until  morning,  while  he  with  his  wife  and 
children  lay  down  a  few  feet  distant. 

Being  himself  the  son  of  a  priest,  the  kakhia  gave  us 
some  important  information  respecting  the  secular  or  parish 


ARMENIAN   PARISH    CLERGY.  43 

priesthood,  which  you  will  allow  me  to  combine  with  what 
we  obtained  from  other  sources  and  present  to  you  here, 
while  what  I  have  said  upon  the  monastic  orders  is  fresh 
in  your  recollection. — Their  appointment  rests  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  village  where  they  officiate,  and  of  which 
they  are  almost  always  themselves  natives.  The  laity  are 
entitled  to  a  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  in  some  other 
respects,  but  their  rights  seem  never  to  have  been  reduced 
to  any  regular  form,  either  by  law  or  custom.  No  com- 
mittees are  appointed,  and  when  a  question  occurs  which 
seems  to  require  the  opinion  of  his  people,  the  priest  mere- 
ly calls  perhaps  a  few  of  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  his 
parish  to  the  church  door  after  service,  for  the  purpose  of 
consultation.  The  right  of  electing  their  own  priests  the 
laity  universally  exercise,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  does  a  bishop 
attempt  to  interfere  with  it,  by  imposing  upon  them  one 
without  their  request,  or  contrary  to  it.  The  inhabitants 
of  a  town  or  village  fix  upon  some  one  of  their  number, 
pay  his  ordination  fee  to  the  bishop,  and  he  of  course  -be- 
comes their  priest.  Should  the  Armenian  church  ever  en- 
gage in  the  struggles  of  a  reformation,  this  invaluable 
right,  being  already  in  their  possession,  will  not  be  one  of 
the  many  for  which  the  laity  will  have  to  contend.  Its 
value  seems  now,  however,  to  be  extremely  small.  Not 
even  do  the  people  avail  themselves  of  it  to  reduce  their 
priests  to  the  moderate  number  which  they  can  respectably 
support.  The  proportion  of  priests  in  the  villages,  will  av- 
erage at  least  one  to  every  fifty  families ;  in  the  towns,  it  is 
somewhat  less.  I  must  add,  too,  that  though  their  election 
rests  with  the  people,  their  bishop  has  the  power  of  depos- 
ing them  at  will ;  and  the  apprehension  of  such  an  event 
makes  them  perfectly  submissive  to  the  nod  of  the  higher 
clergy. 

Of  their  qualifications  the  most  important  in  its  practical 
bearing  is  marriage.     So  cautiously  do  the  regulations  of 


44  ARMENIAN    PARISH    CLERGY. 

the  church  guard  against  allowing  an  unmarried  clergy  to 
have  the  cure  of  souls,  that  they  require  every  parish  priest 
not  only  to  be  married,  but  to  have  one  child,  before  he  is  or- 
dained ;  and  if  a  priest's  wife  dies,  he  is  at  once  to  retire  to 
a  convent.  The  latter  regulation,  however,  is  not  strictly  ex- 
ecuted in  case  of  great  age,  and  where  under  Turkish  law 
the  ecclesiastical  authorities  are  but  imperfectly  obeyed.  A 
priest  thus  become  a  widower  and  admitted  to  a  convent, 
takes  the  rank  of  vartabed,  and  is  admissible  to  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  grades.  The  age  requisite  for  admission  to 
priest's  orders  is  twenty-five  ;  but  we  are  not  certain  that 
this  regulation  is  not  frequently  dispensed  with.  The  least 
literary  and  doctrinal  qualifications  required  by  law,  are 
that  candidates  shall  be  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures, 
and  be  orthodox  in  sentiment.  But  in  practice,  the  for- 
mer is  never  exacted,  nor  the  latter  indeed  any  farther 
than  that  they  assent  by  proxy  to  the  question  whether 
they  believe  in  the  right  creed,  without  being  made  to  re- 
peat it.  The  only  education  which  is  actually  required  as 
necessary,  is  an  ability  to  read.  To  know  how  to  write  is 
not  deemed  essential,  and  in  some  cases  at  least  is  actually 
dispensed  with.  Much  less  is  a  knowledge  of  the  language 
in  which  the  church  books  are  written  demanded.  In  a 
word,  the  priests  are  often  below  the  common  standard  of 
respectability  in  talent  and  education. 

Of  the  habits  and  character  of  the  parish  priesthood, 
we  can  give  you,  with  some  important  exceptions,  (of 
which  we  were  encouraged  to  hope  the  father  of  our  host 
might  be  one,)  but  a  bad  account.  They  make  no  effort 
to  improve  their  own  minds,  nor  those  of  their  people,  in 
literary  or  religious  knowledge ;  but  are  given  to  indolence 
and  the  pleasures  of  the  table.  A  share  of  the  sacrifices 
being  part  of  their  income,  they  are  of  course  invited  to 
them  all,  and  their  very  profession  thus  leads  them  to  be 
gormandizers  and  hard  drinkers.     It  is  affirmed  that  an 


ARMENIAN    PARISH    CLERGY.  45 

Armenian  priest  will  drink  twenty  bottles  of  wine  at  a 
feast !  The  report  seems  incredible  even  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  wine-bibbing  Georgians  and  Mingrelians ;  still  its  very 
existence,  though  false,  shows  that  the  evil  is  not  a  slight 
one.  The  temptation  is  so  strong,  that  young  men  of  good 
habits  before  entering  the  profession,  have  been  observed 
to  give  way  to  it,  and  soon  assimilate  themselves  to  the 
common  character  of  the  priesthood,  which  is  decidedly 
lower  than  that  of  the  generality  of  the  laity.  While  we 
were  at  Shoosha,  a  priest  once  went  to  evening  prayers 
so  intoxicated,  that  he  fell  to  quarrelling  with  the  people 
who  had  assembled,  until  they  were  obliged  to  thrust  him 
out  of  the  church,  and  go  home  with  their  prayers  un- 
said. The  occurrence  made  some  talk  for  a  day  or 
two,  but  was  soon  forgotten  as  no  very  strange  thing; 
and  the  vartabed,  who  as  wekeel  of  the  catholicos  just 
at  that  time  degraded  another  priest  for  sending  his  chil- 
dren to  the  missionary  school,  did  not  regard  it  as  worthy 
of  attention. — With  such  a  view  of  the  qualifications  and 
character  of  the  priests  before  you,  you  need  hardly  be  told 
that  their  influence  is  very  small.  They  are  not  respected, 
and  their  reproofs  are  but  little  regarded,  not  being  backed, 
like  those  of  the  higher  clergy,  by  the  dreaded  power  of 
excommunic  ation. 

In  looking  at  the  duties  of  the  Armenian  parish  priests 
we  must  pass  over  preaching  entirely.  That  belongs  to  the 
vartabeds.  We  heard  indeed  of  two  or  three  priests,  (and 
they  were  not  more  than  two  or  three,)  who  attempt  it,  but 
it  is  considered  rather  as  an  extra  service,  than  as  devolving 
upon  them  by  the  obligation  of  their  office.  Their  rou- 
tine of  duty  lies  in  the  performance  of  the  church  services, 
in  confessing,  baptizing,  marrying,  burying,  and  the  like. 
Of  the  church  services,  the  celebration  of  mass  is  the  prin- 
cipal, and  is  in  fact  the  distinctive  business  of  their  office. 

VOL.  II.  5* 


46  ARMENIAN    PARISH    CLERGY. 

For  we  shall  not  get  a  correct  idea  of  the  priesthood  of  the 
Armenian,  any  more  than  of  the  Romish  church,  until  we 
leave  the  New  Testament  ministry  entirely,  and  go  back  to 
the  old  dispensation.  Like  the  Jewish  priesthood,  they 
are  designed  to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  the  sins  of  the 
people,  and  that  is  done  by  the  supposed  sacrifice  of  Christ 
in  the  celebration  of  mass.  Even  the  customs  of  that  dis- 
pensation are  imitated  in  some  of  the  observances  of  ceremo- 
nial purity.  In  order  to  prevent  the  contamination  which 
might  otherwise  result,  and  which  would  entirely  disqualify 
him  for  so  holy  a  duty,  the  priest  is  bound  by  the  canons  to 
separate  himself  from  his  family  and  sleep  in  the  church 
for  fifteen  nights  previous  to  saying  mass.  He  then  says 
mass  fifteen  days ;  and  remains  fifteen  days  afterward  be- 
fore joining  his  family.  During  the  first  and  the  last  fif- 
teen days,  he  makes  wafers  for  the  mass,  baptizes,  admin- 
isters the  viaticum,  and  the  like.  When  the  priests  are 
few,  which  happens  in  all  villages  and  in  some  towns, 
these  rules,  of  course,  cannot  be  strictly  adhered  to ;  but 
even  then  the  priests  are  supposed  to  sleep  in  a  separate 
room  in  their  houses.  As  an  initiation  to  this  system  of 
segregation,  every  priest  is  obliged,  immediately  after  his 
ordination,  to  fast  forty  days,  shut  up  in  the  church  or  some 
room  connected  with  it,  and  eating  but  once  a  day. 

The  income  of  the  priests  is  derived  entirely  from  per- 
quisites. We  could  not  learn  that  any  church  in  this  region 
has  funds  or  glebes,  and  our  informant  to-night  assured  us 
that  if  they  had,  the  convents  would  take  possession  of 
them.  In  some  parts  of  Turkey  the  churches  are  indeed 
rich  ;  but  even  there  their  income,  so  far  as  we  have  learn- 
ed, is  not  appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  priests,  but  to 
the  purchase  of  candles  and  other  ornaments.  Rarely,  if 
ever,  do  the  clergy  engage  personally  in  the  labors  of  the 
field,  in  any  trade,  or  in  merchandize.  Though  in  the 
latter,  perhaps,  they  sometimes  vest  their  funds  through  the 


ARMENIAN    PARISH    CLERGY.  47 

agency  of  another,  and  in  the  former  their  children  and 
hired  men  are  often  employed  to  increase  the  revenue  yield- 
ed by  sources  properly  clerical.  One  of  these  sources  is 
baptism.  For  it  the  priest  receives,  in  this  vicinity,  from 
one  to  three  penabads.*  Another  is  marriage,  which 
yields  him  a  silver  rouble.  A  third  is  the  burial  of  the  dead ; 
for  which  he  is  paid,  according  to  circumstances,  from  a 
penabad  to  two  silver  roubles  ;  besides  receiving  whatever 
the  sympathies  of  friends  may  deposit  in  a  plate  that  is 
placed  upon  the  breast  of  the  dead  as  they  go  to  kiss  the 
cross  by  his  side  at  the  funeral.  For  confession  nothing  is 
directly  charged.  But  whenever  an  individual  goes  to  the 
communion,  which  is  of  course  immediately  after  confes- 
sion, he  finds  the  Gospel  and  a  plate  placed  by  his  confessor 
at  the  church  door,  one  of  which  he  kisses,  and  in  the  other 
deposits  a  sum  of  money,  perhaps  less  than  a  penabad.  Or, 
according  to  another  custom,  each  confessor  receives  an 
extra  sum  from  his  parishioners  during  the  fifteen  days  of 
his  turn  for  saying  mass,  either  deposited  upon  a  plate  that 
is  carried  around  the  church,  or  given  to  him  privately  at 
his  room.  Masses  for  the  dead  always  procure  for  the 
officiator  a  small  sum  of  money,  perhaps  a  penabad,  besides 
his  share  of  the  sacrifice  that  usually  accompanies  them. 
Simple  prayers  are  said  gratis  for  the  deceased  friends  of 
the  poor,  and  a  donation  is  expected  only  from  the  rich. 
For  blessing  the  houses  of  his  parishoners,  also,  which  he 
does  at  Christmas  and  at  Easter,  the  priest  receives  perhaps 
half  a  penabad.  In  some  places,  also,  where  the  ceremony 
consists  in  saying  prayers  over  bread  and  salt,  while  the 
salt  is  thrown  into  the  cistern,  and  one  loaf  left  for  the  fam- 

*  The  particular  sums  here  given  were  mentioned  to  us  in  the  villages 
of  Kara-bagh.  They  vary  in  different  places,  and  can  furnish  only  a  very 
conjectural  estimate  of  the  amount  of  a  priest's  income.  The  same  items, 
it  is  believed,  are  paid  for  every  where.  The  penabdd  is  about  15  cts. 
and  the  rouble  about  75  eta. 


48  VILLAGE    OF    LOR. 

ily,  a  second  loaf  falls  to  him.  The  only  thing  that  looks 
like  a  regular  salary  in  this  system  of  clerical  support  is, 
that  some  churches  have  a  permanent  box  for  contributions 
to  the  priest,  and  in  some  villages  he  receives  a  small  quan- 
tity of  grain  from  his  parishioners. 

How  lamentable  must  be  the  effect,  both  upon  priest  and 
people,  of  doling  out  thus  in  retail  the  services  of  religion. 
It  makes  every  morsel  of  spiritual  food  almost  as  much  an 
article  of  merchandize  and  barter,  as  is  the  meat  that  is 
sold  in  the  market  for  the  nourishment  of  the  body.  And 
besides,  so  far  as  anti-scriptural  ceremonies  are  sources  of 
profit,  it  must  set  the  priesthood  in  opposition  to  missionary 
efforts,  for  those  efforts  touch  directly  their  most  sensitive 
part,  the  purse.  You  will  recollect,  in  conclusion,  how 
much  of  the  amount  thus  scraped  together  in  pittances  by 
the  priests  from  the  laboring  people,  is  poured  at  their  de- 
cease into  the  laps  of  the  monastic  clergy,  to  be  hoarded 
up  in  golden  church  ornaments  and  costly  clerical  robes, 
or  to  be  expended  in  the  support  of  useless  indolence. 

Nov.  5.  A  heavy  fall  of  snow  continuing  the  whole 
day,  prevented  our  departure,  and  confined  our  observa- 
tions to  the  village  and  the  family.— The  village  in  former 
times  was  populous,  but  when  Nadir  Shah  vented  his  rage 
upon  this  province  for  its  rebellion,  every  soul  emigrated  to 
Constantinople.  After  forty  years  of  desolation,  its  present 
inhabitants  obtained  permission  from  the  khan  of  Shoosha  to 
rebuild  it  as  his  tenants.  They  number  only  twelve  houses, 
and  are  served  by  two  priests,  who  have  also  charge  of  two 
other  neighboring  villages  of  fifteen  houses  each.  One  of 
them,  the  father  of  our  host,  teaches  five  children.  The  ap- 
pearance of  the  church  confirmed  this  historical  tradition.  Its 
size,  the  thickness  and  solidity  of  its  walls  of  stone,  and  the 
proportions  of  its  arches  within,  placed  it  decidedly  before 
any  village  church  we  had  seen.  It  seemed  built  for  ages, 
and  stood  up  in  striking  contrast  to  the  under-ground  cabins 


DIET    OF    THE    COMMON    PEOPLE.  49 

of  the  villages  ;  though,  like  them,  its  scanty  furniture  and 
ornaments  presented  marks  of  poverty.  Local  tradition 
says,  it  was  built  by  a  merchant  who  was  a  native  of  the 
place,  in  the  time  of  Shah  Abbas.  An  inscription  over  the 
door  places  the  date  of  its  erection  174  years  ago,  when, 
according  to  our  informant,  the  village  contained  300 
families. 

The  extreme  abstemiousness  of  the  family  of  our  host, 
though  fairly  representing  the  diet  of  the  Armenian  peas- 
ants generally,  would  be  considered  almost  the  extreme  of 
starvation  by  our  well-fed  countrymen,  among  whom  the 
very  paupers  live  better  than  the  respectable  farmers  of 
Armenia.  No  meal  was  cooked,  and,  it  being  Friday,  dry 
sheets  of  bread  taken  at  the  pleasure  of  each  individual 
from  the  family  chest,  and  raw  onions  torn  from  strings 
suspended  around  the  room,  formed  the  only  food  that  was 
eaten.  The  spareness  of  this  diet  was  indeed  greater  than 
it  would  have  been  on  any  other  than  a  fast  day.  But 
you  must  recollect,  that,  there  being  more  than  150  such 
days  in  a  year,  nearly  the  half  of  an  Armenian's  life  is 
spent  upon  fasting  food,  which  cannot  in  his  native  country 
afford  him  a  much  greater  variety.  For  so  strict  are  the 
canons  of  his  church,  and  the  general  practice  of  his  na- 
tion, that  no  animal  food  of  any  kind  is  eaten ;  olive  oil, 
even  if  in  imitation  of  his  less  strict  brethren  of  Constanti- 
nople he  might  venture  to  use  it,  is  too  scarce  and  too  dear 
for  him  to  obtain;  and,  except  perhaps  a  little  oil  of 
sesame,  his  only  resort  for  a  greater  variety  than  bread  and 
onions,  is  to  rice  and  beans,  with  a  few  culinary  vegetables, 
and,  in  places  favorable  for  its  growth,  some  species  of 
fruit.  Nor  on  other  days  is  the  table  of  an  Armenian 
peasant  much  more  plentifully  supplied.  Flesh  of  any 
kind  he  rarely  tastes ;  and  the  productions  of  the  field,  the 
garden  and  the  dairy,  appearing  in  the  simple  form  of 
bread  and  cheese  or  yoghoort,  with  the  addition  of  an  onion 


50  ARMENIAN    FEMALES. 

or  a  raw  turnip,  and  an  occasional  dish  of  rice  or  beans, 
form  almost  his  whole  living. 

We  generally  broke  in  upon  this  abstemiousness,  by  or- 
dering a  few  boiled  eggs  or  a  fowl  to  be  added  to  our  pi- 
lav  of  rice.  And  in  the  morning  and  evening  a  cup  of 
coffee  or  tea,  articles  never  used  by  the  peasants  of  Arme- 
nia, was  sometimes  prepared  from  our  own  stores,  and 
being  shared  with  our  host  helped  to  increase  his  hospital- 
ity. This  evening,  just  as  our  table  was  about  to  be 
spread  upon  the  tandoor,  the  melik  of  the  neighboring  vil- 
lage of  Pernaghoot  entered  and  seated  himself  in  the  circle. 
In  despite  of  the  canons  of  his  church,  he  accepted  our 
invitation  to  partake  with  us,  and  no  less  in  despite  of  gov- 
ernment espionage,  he  indulged  himself,  as  he  plunged  his 
hands  in  the  pilav  and  jointed  the  chicken  with  his  fingers, 
in  complaints  of  the  semi-barbarism  of  the  Russians.  His 
treatment  of  both  church  and  state  was  to  us  equally 
inexplicable,  in  this  land  where  so  few  venture  even  to 
think  in  opposition  to  either. 

Our  host's  wife,  like  most  of  the  women  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Kara-bagh,  was  unveiled.  But  her  chin,  in  the 
usual  style,  was  swaddled  in  an  enormous  muffler  reaching 
to  her  nose,  and  a  white  cloth  passing  over  from  her  fore- 
head flowed  down  upon  her  shoulders  behind.  She  spoke 
not  a  loud  word  from  the  time  we  entered  the  house.  If 
occasion  required  her  to  address  a  person  too  distant  for 
a  very  low  whisper  to  be  heard,  her  little  daughter  stood 
by  her  side,  and  listening  to  her  whispers,  expressed  her 
wishes  aloud.  Such  is  the  etiquette  of  female  modesty  in 
the  presence  of  strangers,  not  only  here,  but  extensively 
among  the  Armenians.  It  applies,  however,  only  to  the 
younger  women ;  as  we  had  to-day  abundant  evidence. 
For  some  old  ladies  of  the  neighborhood,  who  happened  to 
call,  were  not  prevented  by  it,  nor  by  the  still  greater 
obstacle  of  their  mufflers,  from  almost  stunning  us  with 
their  chatter. 


ARMENIAN    FEMALES.  51 

The  condition  of  the  Armenian  females,  as  you  will  have 
inferred  from  what  I  have  already  said  of  their  education, 
is  not  a  little  degraded.     They  are  regarded  as  inferiors  by 
the  other  sex,  and    as  made  only  for  their  pleasure   and 
service.     From  the   idea  that  their  virtue  depends  upon 
restraint,  rather  than  upon  principle,  an  idea  probably  not 
far  from  correct  in  their  present  circumstances,  they  are 
excluded  from  the  society  of  the  men,  and  never  take  a 
part  in  the  entertainment  of  visiters,  except  very  intimate 
family  friends.     Indeed  they  are  rarely  left  alone,  and  are 
allowed  to  go  abroad  but  little.     The  difficulty  of  obtain- 
ing  female   servants   and  pupils   at  Shoosha,  shows  an  ex- 
treme of  jealousy,   on  this  point.      Probably   it  is  much 
greater  in  towns  than  in  the  country.     The  marriage  con- 
tract is  made  by  the  parents  independently  of  the  parties 
concerned.     Girls  are  often  espoused  as  early  as  three  or 
four  years  of  age ;  and  many  are  married  at  twelve.     The 
earliest  period  at  which  marriage  is  allowed  by  the  rules 
of  the  church  to  be  consummated,  is  ten  for  girls,  and  four- 
teen for  boys.      The  matrimonial  tie  is  never   dissolved 
except   by   death.       For,  neither   in  the   canons   of  the 
church,  nor  in  practice,  is  any  other  divorce  known,  than 
that  termed  by  the  papists  divortium  quoad  torum,  which 
gives  the  separated  paties   no  liberty  to  contract  another 
marriage.     The  relation   which  the  wife   sustains  to  the 
husband,  is  that  of  a  servant,   rather    than  of  a  compan- 
ion.   To   give  counsel   and  express  opinions,  though  she 
sometimes  does  it  pretty  loudly,  is  not  considered  her  de- 
partment.    She  is  managed  more  by  commands  than  by 
advice,  and  not  unfrequently  is  the  rod  called  in  to  aid. 
Her  influence  is  little  felt  in  the  family,  until  she   has  chil- 
dren to  take  her  part.     Even  they  respect  her  but  little  till 
she  arrives   at  extreme  old   age ;  then    she   is  sometimes 
greatly  venerated.     This  degradation  of  females,  and  the 
consequent  separation  of  the  sexes  in  society,  has  a  most 


52  WINTER  SCENERY. 

deleterious  influence  upon  the  habits  of  both.  Without 
that  mutually  chastening  influence,  which  in  civilized  life 
the  presence  of  each  has  upon  the  conversation  of  the 
other,  the  common  language  of  both  degenerates  to  the 
very  lowest  degree  of  indecent  vulgarity,  and  the  parties  of 
the  men  are  converted  into  bacchanalian  carousals. 

Nov.  6.  The  storm  passed  away  in  the  night,  and 
a  morning  without  clouds  unveiled  to  us  the  grandeur 
of  the  mountain  scenery,  that  shuts  out  from  the  world 
the  deep  and  quiet  valley,  where  we  had  found  a  refuge 
from  the  blasts  of  the  last  two  days.  A  drapery  of  virgin 
white  snow  veiled  every  part  to  the  top  of  the  highest  peaks, 
and,  as  the  sun  rose  above  the  horizon,  they  were  brilliantly 
gilded  by  his  rays.  The  bracing  influence  of  a  frosty  at- 
mosphere, in  which  the  thermometer  stood  at  23°,  gave 
elasticity  to  our  spirits,  and  enabled  us  to  drink  in  the  full 
effect  of  the  grandeur  and  beauty  that  surrounded  us. 
With  an  affectionate  farewell  from  our  host,  we  started  at 
9  and  a  quarter  A.  M.  and  following  the  valley  through  a 
few  windings,  soon  passed  the  two  little  hamlets  already  al- 
luded to.  The  shepherds  were  just  conducting  forth  their 
flocks  to  browse  upon  the  shrubs  and  weeds  that  peered  up 
through  the  snow,  while  their  fleecy  backs  afforded  a  warm 
and  undisturbed  footing  to  a  species  of  magpie,  which  in 
these  parts  dares  to  face  the  severity  of  winter.  In  ascending 
the  mountain  beyond,  the  horse  that  carried  our  chief  mule- 
teer, failing  by  reason  of  the  snow  to  secure  a  firm  foot-hold 
in  the  narrow  path,  fell,  and  turned  many  a  somerset  as  he 
rolled  over  and  over  down  the  rocky  declivity,  till  arrested 
by  a  rock  more  prominent  than  the  rest  some  fifty  or  a  hun- 
dred feet  below.  Possessed  of  the  exceeding  hardiness  of 
the  horses  of  this  region,  however,  he  sustained  no  perma- 
nent injury,  and  the  incident  only  served  to  make  us  more 
sensible  of  the  danger  to  which  we  had  been  exposed  in  the 
passage  of  the  river  of  Datev  on  the  3d.     On  the  summit 


HOSPITALITY    IN    KARA-BAGH.  53 

we  found  a  grove  of  stinted  oaks,  the  last  forest  trees  we 
passed  on  these  mountains,  and  in  fact  the  last  we  saw  in 
travelling  not  far  from  800  miles  in  different  directions  af- 
terward, till  we  were  beyond  Erzroom  again  on  our  return 
to  Constantinople ! 

Descending  into  a  broad  valley  ieyond,  we  passed  through 
a  small  Armenian  hamlet,  and  a  quarter  before  3  P.  M.  ob- 
served in  a  branch  of  the  valley  not  far  to  the  left,  the  vil- 
lage of  Sisiyan.  It  was  at  the  foot  of  an  isolated  hill,  on 
the  top  of  which  were  probably  the  ruins  of  an  old  for- 
tress ;  though  the  term  kulaah  (fortress),  applied  to  it  by 
our  guide,  might  mean  merely  natural  rocks  upon  its  sum- 
mit. It  is  the  principal  place  in  the  district,  and  both  its 
name  and  position  seem  to  indicate  that  it  is  a  relic  of  the 
ancient  Sisagan,  which  was  one  of  the  most  important  can- 
tons of  the  province  of  Siinik.*  It  is  inhabited  in  part  by 
moslems  ;  and  I  ought  to  observe,  that  though  since  leaving 
Shoosha  we  have  stopped  only  in  Armenian  villages,  there 
are  many  moslems  scattered  through  these  mountains. 

As  we  passed  near  the  large  village  of  Pernaghoot  some 
distance  beyond,  six  or  eight  men  came  out  and  invited  us 
to  spend  the  night  with  them,  urging  with  much  importu- 
nity that  it  was  wintry  weather,  and  that  we  should  cer- 
tainly be  benighted  in  the  open  air  on  the  mountains  ;  as 
would  have  been  the  case,  had  we  taken  the  direct  road, 
there  being  no  village  on  it  for  several  fursakhs.  This 
was  the  finishing  touch  to  the  uniform  hospitality  we  had 
experienced  since  leaving  Shoosha.  In  no  case  had  we 
found  the  least  occasion  to  show  the  commandant's  order 
for  guides  and  lodgings ;  for  the  former  were  always  ready 
to'accompany  us  for  a  trifling  compensation,  and  those  with 
whom  we  lodged,  after  giving  us  a  welcome  reception,  in 
every  case  were  thankful  for  the  gratuity  of  two  or  three 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  144. 
VOL.  II.  6 


54  RECEPTION  AT    SHAGHAD. 

penabads,  (30  or  40  cts.)  for  a  day's  food  and  a  night's 
lodging  for  us  all.  We  now  declined  the  kind  hospitality 
of  our  unknown  friends,  in  order  that,  by  pushing  on  a  fur- 
sakh  or  two  farther  to  another  village  a  little  off  the  road, 
we  might  shorten  somewhat  the  next  day's  ride. 

On  entering  Shaghad  the  village  in  question,  6  fursakhs 
from  Lor,  we  were  assailed  with  a  deafening  jargon  of 
clamorous  voices  from  all  directions,  the  import  of  which 
was,  that  we  were  fools  for  passing  the  good  accommodations 
of  Pernaghoot  and  coming  where  not  a  room  could  be 
found  to  shelter  us.  By  dint  of  reasoning,  scolding,  and 
promising,  however,  of  which  the  last  had  evidently  the 
greatest  effect,  and  after  being  shown  into  one  or  two  sta- 
bles where  the  stench  was  almost  suffocating,  we  obtained 
a  room  which  was  in  fact  a  whole  house  entirely  to  our- 
selves. Now  the  tone  was  entirely  changed.  When  once 
fairly  under  the  wing  of  our  host,  nothing  was  too  much 
for  him  do  for  us.  Mats  and  carpets  were  brought  to  cover 
the  ground.  His  wife  came  specially  to  cook  the  pilav  be- 
fore our  eyes,  that  it  might  be  done  to  our  taste ;  an  atten- 
tion, by  the  way,  which  we  would  gladly  have  dispensed 
with,  for,  there  being  no  fireplace  but  the  cylindrical  oven, 
and  no  chimney  to  that,  the  smoke  almost  suffocated  us. 
In  the  absence  of  oil  and  candles,  butter  was  placed  in  a 
dish  to  give  us  light.  And  a  frame  and  an  old  rug  were 
borrowed  from  a  neighbor  to  make  us  a  tandoor.  We 
were  glad  to  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  changing 
the  good  opinion  we  had  formed  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
people  of  Kara-bagh,  by  learning  that  this  village  had  emi- 
grated from  Khoy  in  Persia,  at  the  close  of  the  last  war. 
The  reception  they  gave  us  was  truly  Persian.  They 
amounted  to  about  30  houses,  and  had  one  church  and  one 
priest. 

Nov.  7.     All  the  precautions  taken  by  our  host  to  make 
us  comfortable,  proved  an  ineffectual  defence  from  the  cold, 


OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  SABBATH.  55 

which  increased  to  such  a  degree  in  the  night,  that  at  sun- 
rise our  thermometer  stood  at  only  one  degree  above  zero, 
and  perhaps  would  have  sunk  lower,  had  it  had  sufficient 
range.  Our  house,  instead  of  being,  in  the  style  of  Kara- 
bagh,  half  buried  snugly  in  the  side  of  a  hill  and  covered 
with  a  warm  mound  of  earth,  was  composed,  as  is  common 
in  the  warmer  regions  beyond  the  mountains,  of  four  naked 
walls  and  a  thin  terrace,  so  easily  penetrated  by  the  cold, 
that  with  only  the  imperfect  means  of  heating  it  afforded 
by  a  tandoor,  the  air  within  was  not  far  from  the  temper- 
ature of  that  without.  Our  furs  were  our  only  resort,  and 
wrapped  in  them,  we  succeeded  in  retaining  some  portion 
of  animal  heat. 

To-day  being  the  Sabbath,  we  remained  at  Shaghad, 
and  were  pained  to  observe  that  a  part  of  the  people  spent 
it  in  the  labors  of  the  loom,  the  employment  in  which  the 
villagers  pass  away  the  winter  months.  In  general  the 
Armenians  aim  to  observe  the  literal  command  to  do  no 
work  on  the  Sabbath.  Especially  are  the  labors  of  the 
field  almost  universally  suspended  in  obedience  to  it: 
though  at  Shoosha  the  villagers  often  take  that  opportunity 
to  carry  their  wood  to  market.  Shops  in  the  bazar,  too,  are 
generally  closed,  though  some  do  not  scruple  to  sell  goods 
privately.  The  feeling  that  the  Lord's  day  is  more  sacred 
than  their  other  festivals,  is  generally  clear,  and  is  express- 
ed in  a  better  observance  of  it.  And  conscience  is  often 
sufficiently  enlightened  to  extort  the  confession,  when  re- 
proved, that  in  profaning  it  they  cannot  but  be  guilty. 
Still,  neither  in  their  feelings  nor  in  their  conduct,  can  we 
find  any  just  views  of  its  sanctity.  Travelling  seems  never 
to  be  regarded  as  an  infringement  of  it ;  and  that  persons 
should  be  stopped  by  it  when  on  a  journey,  appears  to 
them  exceedingly  strange.  They  generally  spend  it  as  a 
holiday  in  visiting  and  feasting,  and  thus  commit  more  sin 
than  they  would  by  laboring. 


56  ATTENDANCE    AT    CHURCH. 

Attendance  at  church  is  perhaps  more  general  than  one 
would  at  first  conclude  from  the  small  number  present  at 
any  one  time.  That  nothing  like  the  whole  population  of 
a  place  attends  at  every  service  is  perfectly  evident.  But 
it  must  be  remembered,  that,  as  there  is  public  worship 
twice  every  day,  one  may  go  in  the  morning  and  another 
in  the  evening,  and  one  who  is  absent  to-day  may  be  pres- 
ent to-morrow,  and  thus  every  one  make  out  a  tolerably 
frequent  attendance  even  on  common  days.  On  the  great 
festivals  and  Sabbath  days,  a  much  more  full  attendance  is 
observable ;  and  considering  that  there  are  then  three  ser- 
vices, of  which  some  may  be  at  one  and  some  at  another,, 
we  can  believe,  what  we  were  assured  in  Kara-bagh,  that 
nearly  all  attend  church  on  the  Lord's  day.  I  must  not 
forget,  however,  to  except  all  marriageable  and  newly 
married  females,  whom  custom  debars  entirely  from  the 
privileges  of  God's  house  !  The  term  privileges,  however, 
is  improperly  borrowed  from  more  favored  lands.  The 
churches  of  Armenia  afford  no  privileges,  nor  do  the 
people  have  for  them  any  of  those  feelings,  which  made 
the  Psalmist  esteem  a  day  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord  better 
than  a  thousand.  Conscience  or  custom,  and  not  love, 
causes  their  attendance. 

Nov.  8.  Rising  before  the  break  of  day,  we  hastened 
our  departure  for  a  warmer  region.  The  atmosphere  seem- 
ed colder  than  yesterday,  but  a  smiling  sun  soon  rose  with- 
out a  cloud.  How  cheering  were  his  first  rays,  as  chilled 
and  benumbed  we  plodded  over  the  bleak  and  snow  cover- 
ed mountains  1  Shaghad  is  near  the  river  of  Datev,  (the 
ancient  Orodnagerd,)  here  called  the  Bazar-chai,  and  we 
now  recrossed  it  coming  down  from  the  south,  where  lay 
the  lofty  peak  that  rises  back  of  Datev.  The  highest  ridge 
we  crossed  was  but  little  more  elevated  than  Shaghad.  In 
passing  it,  we  entered  the  province  of  Nakhchevan,  and 
then  threaded  in  our   descent,  by  the  aid  of  a  Russian 


SELASIZ.  57 

military  road,  a  deep  and  rugged  ravine,  in  which  spring  up 
the  first  waters  of  the  river  of  Nakhchevan.  In  a  warm 
nook  at  the  bottom  of  the  steepest  descent,  were  the  bar- 
racks of  a  permanent  encampment  of  soldiers,  whose  com- 
manding officer  demanded  a  sight  of  our  passports.  Follow- 
ing the  same  road,  which  as  well  as  the  river  continues  to 
the  town  of  Nakhchevan,  we  hastened  on  to  Kara-baba, 
6  fursakhs  from  Shaghad.  The  ravine  here  opened  a 
little  and  presented  a  moderate  extent  of  arable  surface. 
The  village  was  carefully  surrounded  with  a  mud  wall, 
but  its  houses,  which  were  also  of  mud,  were  in  a  ruinous 
state.  The  only  spare  rooms  had  been  previously  engaged 
for  an  officer  who  was  expected  in  the  evening,  and  we 
could  find  neither  shelter  for  ourselves,  nor  food  for  our 
animals.  At  a  late  hour,  therefore,  we  were  obliged  to 
push  onward,  not  knowing  but  the  open  sky  would  be  our 
only  covering  for  the  night.  But  an  hour  beyond,  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  road,  we  found  the  little  moslem 
village  of  Selasiz. 

Sela-siz  may  be  resolved  into  an  Arabic  word  with  a 
Turkish  termination,  and  made  to  signify  comfort-less ; 
and  so  the  place  actually  proved  to  us.  Although  a  whole 
family  left  its  house  to  our  disposal,  it  was  but  a  single  room 
so  small  as  hardly  to  admit  ourselves  and  our  baggage.  The 
dust  of  its  mud  walls  and  floor,  mixed  with  ashes,  cleaved 
to  every  thing  that  touched  them  ;  its  broken  door  excluded 
little  of  the  external  air ;  and  the  whole  village  either  could 
not  or  would  not  afford  us  the  means  for  making  a  tandoor. 
And  bread  and  cheese,  and  fried  eggs,  were  the  only  arti- 
cles of  food  to  be  found,  after  our  long  and  hungry  ride 
since  daylight  in  the  morning.  But  even  such  accommo- 
dations, given  with  a  hospitable  intent,  would  have  been 
acceptable.  Instead  of  this,  however,  our  host  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  we  had  paid  well  for  every  article  of  food,  so- 
licited a  whole  suit  of  clothes  as  a  present  for  our  lodg- 

VOL.  II.  6* 


5S  COMMENCEMENT    OF   PERSIAN   MANNERS. 

ings !  We  have  now  bid  farewell  to  every  shadow  of  hos- 
pitality, but  shall  hear  more  professions  of  it,  than  where  it 
really  in  some  degree  existed. 

In  fact,  you  must  from  this  point  consider  us  as  virtually 
in  Persia.  The  two  provinces  of  Nakhchevan  and  Erivan, 
now  composing  the  province  of  Armenia,  have  too  recently 
passed  from  the  Persian  to  the  Russian  government,  to 
have  been  materially  modified  by  the  change ;  and  the  de- 
scriptions of  character  and  manners  we  hereafter  give  you, 
must  be  put  to  the  amount  of  what  we  have  to  say  of  the 
Persian  part  of  our  tour.  You  will  understand,  of  course, 
that  these  provinces,  having  been  at  the  extremity  of  that 
empire,  cannot  be  considered  as  in  every  respect  fairly 
representing  it,  All  I  mean,  is,  that  every  thing  here  has 
a  strong  Persian  tinge,  differing  very  observably  from  what- 
ever we  had  yet  seen. 

Nov.  9.  Nakhchevan  is  but  three  fursakhs  from  Sela- 
siz.  As  we  approached  it,  the  plain  opened  and  discover- 
ed to  us  several  large  villages.  Cotton  fields,  too,  of  which 
we  had  seen  the  first  at  Kara-baba,  now  became  frequent ; 
but  the  plants  were  of  a  very  stinted  growth,  being  hardly 
more  than  a  foot  in  height.  Either  from  unsuitable  food, 
or  from  exposure  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  my 
health  was  this  morning  extremely  disordered,  and  I  en- 
tered Nakhchevan  tormented  with  excruciating  pain.  We 
sought  for  lodgings  in  the  best  of  the  two  caravanserais  the 
town  contains.  It  consisted  of  a  series  of  apartments  in- 
closing an  open  quadrangle,  with  the  stable  in  the  centre 
so  low  that  its  terrace  was  nearly  even  with  the  ground. 
The  best  room  was  given  us.  It  was  about  eight  or  ten 
feet  square,  with  walls  and  floor  of  clay  attaching  a  thick 
coat  of  dust  to  every  thing  that  touched  them,  destitute  of 
a  fireplace,  and  with  a  door  so  loose  that  when  it  was 
shut,  the  cats  and  hens  found  no  difficulty  in  visiting  us. 


LODGINGS    AT    NAKHCHEVAN.  59 

In  such  lodgings,  while  the  ground  was  white  with  snow, 
and  it  froze  every  night,  my  ague  and  fever  took  the  oc- 
casion of  the  illness  just  alluded  to,  to  renew  its  attacks. 
I  did  the  best  I  could,  with  furs,  coverlets  and  warm  tea, 
and  by  the  timely  application  of  quinine  obtained  speedy 
relief. 


LETTER    XIV. 

FROM   NAKHCHEVAN  TO    ERIVAN  AND  ECHMIADZIN. 

Description  of  Nakhchevan — Former  Dominican  mission — Ex-bishop  of 
Aderbaijan — Leave  Nakhchevan — Jews  of  Armenia — Accommodations 
at  Khoik — A  moslem  family — Moslem  devotions — Mount  Ararat — Ziveh- 
diidengeh — Valley  of  the  Aras — Dawaly — Magoo — Kurds — Khor-virab— 
Ardisher — Singular  fasting — Reach  Erivan — Inhospitable  police  regula- 
tion— Description  of  Erivan — Eide  to  Echmiadzin. 

Dear  Sir, 

Nakhchevan  claims  the  honor  of  being  the  oldest  city 
in  the  world.  Armenian  etymology  shows,  that  the  name 
signifies  first  "place  of  descent,  or  lodging;*  and  Armenian 
tradition  affirms,  that  Noah  first  resided  here  after  descend- 
ing from  mount  Ararat.  Such  a  tradition  can  of  course 
rest  upon  no  satisfactory  authority ;  but  that  the  whole  is 
not  of  Christian  origin,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  name 
Naxuana  is  given  to  it  by  Ptolemy,  and  that  Josephus,  fifty 
years  before  him,  affirms  that  the  Armenians  call  the  place 
where  the  ark  rested,  the  place  of  descent.^  From  the 
first  mention  of  it  in  Armenian  tradition  as  the  spot  where 
the  family  of  Ajtahag  (Astyages)  was  located,  it  is  often 
noticed  both  by  native  and  foreign  historians,  as  one  of  the 
most  important  cities  in  this  part  of  Armenia.  But  so  far 
back  as  the  time  of  Chardin,  it  was  a  heap  of  ruins,  and 
formed  "  in  truth,"  says  he,  "  a  pitiable  object."  It  is  situa- 
ted  about  two  fursakhs  from  the   Aras  on  the  edge  of  a 

*  Nakh  signifies  first  ;  and  chevdn,  place  of  descent. or  lodging,  corres- 
ponding exactly  with  menzel  in  Arabic, 
t  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  267. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    NAKHCHEVAN.  61 

higher  level  than  the  alluvial  plain  immediately  bordering 
upon  that  river.  Around  and  in  the  city  are  numerous 
gardens,  which  even  at  this  season  gave  evidence  by  the 
size  of  their  trees  and  shrubbery  of  extreme  luxuriance : 
and  the  abundance  of  quinces,  pears,  apples,  melons,  pome- 
granates, grapes,  and  almonds,  which  stocked  the  bazar, 
confirmed  their  character  for  fertility.  The  grapes  especi- 
ally were  almost  unequalled  in  excellence,  and  seemed  to 
deserve  the  honor  of  growing  on  the  spot,  where  "  Noah 
began  to  be  an  husbandman,  and  planted  a  vineyard."  The 
melons  too  were  so  plenty,  that,  together  with  bread,  they 
seemed  to  form  almost  the  sole  food  of  the  common  people. 
But  fruits,  with  all  their  charms,  are  here,  as  almost  wher- 
ever they  abound,  both  indicative  and  productive  of  dis- 
ease, by  the  miasmata  arising  from  the  well- watered  gar- 
dens which  produce  them,  and  the  vapid  diet  to  which  they 
lead.  Nakhchevan  is  as  noted  for  its  sickliness  as  for 
its  fertility. 

The  city  was  ruined  during  the  last  war,  and  its  inhab- 
itants have  not  yet  recovered  energy  to  rebuild  it.  Wher- 
ever you  turn,  nothing  but  dilapidated  walls  meet  your  eye  ; 
and  these  being  composed  entirely  of  dried  mud,  of  which 
almost  every  edifice  is  built,  have  a  peculiarly  "  pitiable  "  as- 
pect. The  appearance  of  desolation  is  increased  by  the 
fact,  that  not  a  window  is  open  to  the  street.  Lest  we 
were  too  unfavorably  impressed,  however,  by  this  our  first 
view  of  Persian  mud  walls,  and  as  we  saw  no  other  style  of 
building  for  several  months,  I  reserve  a  more  particular  de- 
scription for  some  future  occasion.  That  the  place  was 
not  very  inviting  to  us,  you  may  infer  from  our  accommo- 
dations already  alluded  to.  On  returning  from  Erivan, 
we  determined  to  obtain  better  rooms,  and  accepted  the 
hospitality  of  a  melik  who  had  invited  us  to  lodge  with 
him.  The  apartment  assigned  us  was  a  stable,  filled  with 
horses  and  grooms,  and  so  dark  that  we  could  not  possibly 


62  FORMER    DOMINICAN    MISSION. 

see  to  read.  At  the  first  sight  of  it,  though  persuaded  that 
he  was  far  from  intending  an  insult,  we  thanked  him  for 
his  kindness,  and  withdrew.  We  then  thought  of  applying 
to  the  police,  but  fearing  no  better  success,  as  it  appeared 
doubtful  whether  the  town  contained  any  good  rooms,  we 
returned  to  our  old  caravanserai. 

Nakhchevan  contains,  besides  perhaps  2000  moslem 
families,  between  eight  and  nine  hundred  families  of  Ar- 
menians, of  which  100  or  120  are  original  inhabitants,  and 
the  remainder  emigrants  from  Persia.  It  is  the  capital  of 
a  province  of  the  same  name  whose  governor  is  a  moslem 
khan.  We  had  a  letter  to  him  from  the  governor  of  the 
whole  province  of  Armenia,  on  our  return  from  Erivan,  but 
he  was  not  in  town,  and  we  failed  of  seeing  him.  The 
Russian  major  commandant,  however,  who  formed  one  of 
the  body  of  responsible  advisers  with  which  government 
has,  carefully  surrounded  him,  treated  us  with  attention 
at  both  visits.  Respecting  the  province  we  obtained  very 
little  statistical  information,  except  that  before  the  war 
it  contained  not  more  than  300  families  of  Armenians. 
The  number  of  that  nation  which  subsequently  emigrated 
from  Persia,  was  stated  to  us  by  their  bishop,  from  docu- 
ments lying  before  him,  at  9000  families.  But  how  many  of 
them  settled  in  this  vicinity  we  were  not  informed.  We 
afterward  found  several  villages  of  them  in  the  province  of 
Erivan. 

The  ancient  and  extensive  Dominican  mission,  which 
once  had  its  seat  in  this  province,  is  now  no  more.  It 
was  commenced  about  A.  D.  1320,  by  an  Italian  papal 
monk  of  the  Dominican  order.  Such  success  attended  it, 
that  soon  nearly  30  Armenian  villages  embraced  the  faith 
of  Rome,  and  acknowledged  subjection  to  a  papal  bishop, 
who,  after  being  consecrated  at  Rome,  resided  in  the  village 
of  Abaran  (Abarner),  with  the  title  of  archbishop  of  Nakh- 
chevan.    Many  of  the  villages  also  contained  convents, 


BISHOP    OF    ADERBAIJAN.  63 

governed  by  Armenian  Dominicans.  And  "  to  form  good 
subjects,  youth  of  that  nation  were  from  time  to  time  sent 
to  Rome,  to  be  educated  in  the  sciences  and  in  the  spirit 
of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic."  With  the  exception  of  mass 
and  the  offices  of  the  church,  which  are  chanted  in  Arme- 
nian, the  Roman  ritual  was  strictly  followed.  The  papal 
Tournefort  extols  their  holy  life,  and  assures  us  there  were 
no  better  Christians  in  all  the  East.  Already,  however,  in 
the  days  of  Chardin,  (A.  D.  1673,)  had  twenty  of  these 
villages  returned  to  the  proper  Armenian  faith,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  remaining  eight  were  dropping  off 
daily  under  intolerable  exactions  from  Persian  governors, 
caused,  by  an  attempt  of  a  special  mission  from  the  pope 
to  the  Shah  to  withdraw  them  from  their  jurisdiction.* 
Abarner,  Jahoog,  and  another  village  the  name  of  which 
we  neglected  to  note,  held  out  until  lately ;  but  now  empty 
churches  are  all  that  remain  of  their  papacy.  The  bishop 
of  Datev,  within  whose  diocese  they  fall,  assured  us  that  their 
papal  inhabitants  had  not  returned  to  the  Armenian  church, 
but  had  emigrated.  Some  of  these  emigrants,  or  their  de- 
scendants, now  inhabit  Smyrna. 

The  whole  province  of  Nakhchevan  belongs  to  the  bish- 
oprick  of  Datev  or  Sunik ;  but  we  found  here  the  emigrant 
bishop  of  Aderbaijan,  and  paid  him  a  visit.  His  name 
was  Pasegh.  He  formerly  presided  over  all  the  Armenians 
of  Aderbaijan,  and  part,  at  least,  of  the  pashalik  of  Baye- 
zeed,  and  resided  in  the  convent  of  Tateos  Arakeal,  (Thad- 
deus  the  apostle,)  in  the  district  of  Magoo.  His  diocese 
was  one  of  the  largest,  and  his  convent  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  distinguished  in  Armenia,  built,  tradition  asserts, 
on  the  spot  where  the  apostle  whose  name  it  bears  was 
martyred.!     At  the  head  of  most  of  his   flock,   he   retired 

*  Tournefort,  vol.  2:  p.  407.  Chardin,  vol.  2:  p.  300.  St.  Mart.  vol.  1: 
p.  145. 

t  St.  Mart.  vol.  1  :  p.  136. 


64  BISHOP    OP   ADERBAljAN. 

within  the  Russian  dominions  at  the  close  of  the  late  war, 
and  the  movable  property  of  his  convent,  which  was  for- 
merly great  in  furniture  and  flocks,  was  transferred  to  Ech- 
miadzin. He  seemed  less  than  forty  years  old,  of  a  vigor- 
ous constitution  well  nurtured  by  good  living,  and  of  a 
naturally  acute  mind  cheered  by  a  fine  flow  of  spirits. 
Possessed  of  a  pleasing  address,  he  received  us  in  a  friend- 
ly manner,  and  learning  that  we  were  of  the  clerical  pro- 
fession, inquired  what  rank  we  held  in  it,  as  if  desirous  to 
graduate  his  attentions  accordingly.  From  a  conversation 
thus  introduced  respecting  our  ecclesiastical  polity,  he  pass- 
ed to  the  doctrines  of  our  religion,  but  seemed  satisfied  as 
soon  as  he  learned  that  they  resembled  those  of  the  Ger- 
mans. He  declared  his  pleasure,  however,  at  being  ac- 
quainted with  the  missionaries  at  Shoosha,  and  during  the 
whole  interview  manifested  quite  a  gentlemanly  reluctance 
to  express  any  opinions  that  might  give  occasion  for  ar- 
gument ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  as  to  create  in  us  a  painful 
apprehension  that  it  arose  from  the  indifference  of  infidelity. 
He  soon  inquired,  as  had  almost  every  one  with  whom 
we  had  conversed  since  leaving  Shoosha,  the  object  of  our 
present  journey.  We  answered  as  usual,  that  it  was  to 
obtain  information  respecting  Armenia  and  its  inhabitants, 
of  which,  in  our  distant  country,  little  was  known.  He 
seemed  to  feel  himself  called  upon  to  apologize  for  the 
condition  in  which  we  found  his  countrymen,  and  said,  we 
had  come  from  an  enlightened  to  an  ignorant  country,  and 
possibly  might  often  feel  constrained  to  laugh  at  its  inhab- 
itants. We  assured  him  that  it  was  indeed  true,  that  with 
us  the  people  are  generally  more  or  less  educated,  while 
here  we  found  them  as  universally  ignorant ;  but  instead  of 
being  an  occasion  for  ridicule,  this  fact  only  gave  us  ex- 
ceeding great  pain.  He  attributed  this  ignorance  to  their 
having  been  until  recently  under  the  yoke  of  Mohamme- 
dan tyranny.     But  when  we  expressed  to  him  the  extreme 


BISHOP    OF    ADERBAIJAN.  65 

desirableness  that  they  should  avail  themselves  of  their 
present  favorable  circumstances  to  become  enlightened,  he 
confessed  that  no  attempt  had  yet  been  made,  and  that 
there  was  not  a  school  in  the  whole  province. 

A  paroxysm  of  my  disease  attacking  me,  cut  short  our 
visit ;  but  Antonio  remained  awhile  with  the  bishop,  and 
directing  the  conversation  to  topics  suggested  by  his  own 
recent  inclination  to  scriptural  views,  drew  from  him  some 
concessions  by  which  he  was  much  astonished,  and  which 
confirmed  our  idea  of  the  bishop's  indifference  to  such 
things.  On  learning  that  we  had  the  ultimate  design  of 
establishing  schools  for  the  Armenians,  the  bishop  said  it 
would  be  well,  if  we  would  not,  like  the  Germans,  preach 
against  the  mediation  of  the  saints.  But  when  pressed  by 
the  argument  that  Scripture  ascribes  only  to  God  the  pre- 
rogative of  searching  the  heart,  and  that  the  saints  cannot 
of  course  judge  of  the  sincerity  of  our  prayers,  he  con- 
fessed that  Scripture  mentions  only  the  mediation  of  Christ, 
and  that  others  have  subsequently  introduced  that  of  the 
saints.  In  reference  to  the  fasts,  too,  he  allowed  that 
Scripture  teaches,  that  "not  that  which  goeth  into  the 
mouth  defileth  a  man,"  and  placed  them  upon  the  general 
ground  of  penance.  Several  other  points  were  brought 
forward,  and  the  bishop  finally  answered  the  whole  by 
declaring,  that  the  differences  between  all  sects  of  Christ- 
ians might  be  easily  accommodated  to  the  satisfaction  of 
every  one  by  a  general  council,  but  he  knew  not  when  it 
would  be  held.  The  same  idea  of  a  general  council  had 
been  introduced  in  his  conversation  with  us,  while  speak- 
ing of  the  several  points  of  difference  between  the  Arme- 
nian and  Greek  churches ;  and  reminded  us  of  the  query, 
already  suggested  to  us  by  others,  whether  an  attempt  will 
not  be  made  to  unite  the  Armenian  with  the  Greek 
church,  and  of  the  possibility  that  his  mind  had  been  al- 
ready directed  to  such   a  measure.     Before  we  left  town. 

VOL.  II.  7 


w 


LEAVE    NAKHCHEVAN. 


he  politely  sent  us,  of  his  own  accord,  a  letter  of  introduce 
tion  to  the  secretary  of  the  Catholicos  at  Echmiadzin. 

We  left  Nakhchevan  at  half  past  7  A.  M.  on  the  13th 
of  November,  for  Erivan  and  Echmiadzin.  During  the 
morning,  the  alluvial  of  the  Aras  lay  a  little  below  us  on 
the  left  •  on  the  right  was  a  range  of  hills,  composed  of  va- 
riegated and  unusual  colors,  and  without  a  sign  of  vegeta- 
tion ;  while  our  road  passed  over  an  undulating  and  uncul- 
tivated surface.  Among  the  hills  not  far  from  us  was  a  salt 
mine,  which  we  intended  to  visit  on  our  return ;  but  were 
dissuaded  in  expectation  of  being  able  to  examine  a  more 
remarkable  one  near  Khoy.  Two  others  are  worked  in 
the  same  range  of  mountains,  one  a  little  to  the  northeast 
of  Nakhchevan,  and  the  other  to  the  west  of  Erivan.  In 
many  other  parts,  also,  along  the  valley  of  the  Aras  and  in 
Aderbaijan,  we  were  assured,  mineral  salt  can  be  found  by 
digging  only  a  few  feet  beneath  the  surface.  Large  slabs  of 
it,  resembling  grey  marble  so  much  that  we  at  first  mistook 
them  for  building  stones,  met  our  eye,  in  piles  or  trans- 
ported in  carts  or  on  animals,  in  almost  every  place  from 
Kars  to  Tebriz.  No  other  salt  is  used  in  these  parts,  and 
so  pure  is  it,  that  it  is  believed  to  be  universally  only  pul- 
verized, to  fit  it  for  the  table.  All  the  water  on  the  road, 
this  morning,  brought  down  so  many  mineral  ingredients 
from  the  adjacent  hills,  as  to  be  unpalatable. 

Among  the  two  or  three  who  joined  our  little  caravan  at 
Nakhchevan,  was  a  Jewish  merchant  of  Akhaltsikhe,  whose 
national  timidity  induced  him,  for  the  sake  of  company, 
thus  to  break,  as  he  supposed,  the  fourth  commandment,  by 
travelling  on  Saturday.  He  was  uttering  lamentations  all 
the  way,  and  every  little  accident  that  befell  himself  or  his 
horse,  was  interpreted  as  an  expression  of  the  displeasure 
of  God  at  his  sin.  But  he  only  got  from  our  moslem  mule- 
teers the  taunting  consolation,  that,  as  we  were  to  rest 
to-morrow,  he  would  make  up  for  breaking  his  own,  by 
keeping  the  Christian  Sabbath. 


JEWS    OF    ARMENIA.  67 

The  Jews  were  once  num  erous  in  the  valley  of  the  Aras 
and  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  Armenia.  Without  reckoning 
Shampad,the  ancestor  of  the  Pakradians,  and  his  compatri- 
ots, whose  descendants  had  probably  lost  their  distinctive 
Jewish  character  long  before  they  were  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity in  company  with  the  Armenian  nation ;  we  are  told 
that  Dikran,  on  taking  possession  of  the  throne  of  the 
Seleucidse,  invaded  Palestine,  83  A.  C.  and  carrying  thence  a 
company  of  Jewish  captives,  settled  them  in  Vartkes,  now 
Vagharshabad  ;*  and  that  Pazapran,  when  in  connection 
with  his  Persian  auxiliaries  he  had  taken  Jerusalem,  trans- 
ported Hircanus,  the  high  priest  whom  he  deposed,  with 
a  company  of  his  countrymen,  to  the  city  of  Shamirama- 
gerd,  now  Van.f  Whatever  credit  may  be  due  to  these 
traditions,  more  authentic  history  informs  us,  that  in  the 
fourth  century,  besides  the  colony  in  Vagharshabad  and  a 
large  number  in  Nakhchevan,  the  Jews  amounted  in  Ar- 
dashad  to  9000,  in  Zarehavan  (now  Diadeen)  to  8000,  and 
in  Van  to  at  least  18000  families*!  But  they  suffered  even 
more  severely  than  the  Armenians,  from  the  persecutions 
of  the  fire-worshipers ;  and  under  Shahpoor  Second,  toward 
the  close  of  the  same  century,  were  all  either  destroyed 
or  transported  to  Persia.  § 

Now,  there  is  not  a  Jew  in  the  whole  valley  of  the  Aras ; 
nor,  except  the  colony  in  Akhaltsikhe  and  Colchis,  to  which 
our  companion  this  morning  belonged,  another  in  Daghistan 
and  its  vicinity,  and  a  third  in  Salmas  and  Oormih,  did 
we  hear  of  any  within  the  field  of  our  inquiry  in  this 
region.  The  first  have  been  already  mentioned,  and  the 
last  will  come  under  review  hereafter.     Of  the  others  we 

*  Chamchean,  P,  3:  c.  3.     Mos.  Choren.  Lib,  2:  c.  15. 

f  Chamchean,  P?  3:  c.  4.  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  139.  Mos.  Chorea.  Lib. 
2:  c.  18. 

t  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  115,  118, 125,  132,  139. 

§  Ibid.       Chamchean,  P.  3?  c.  21. 


O©  JEWS    OF    ARMENIA. 

can  give  you  little  more  than  statistical  information.  They 
seem  to  have  been  once  more  numerous  than  they  now  are, 
as  among  the  moslem  villages  in  the  province  of  Derbend, 
many  are  said  to  have  been  once  Jews.  At  present,  the 
large  market  town  of  Vertashin  not  far  from  Nookha,  con- 
tains about  100  families.  Near  Shamakhy  is  another 
market  town  entirely  inhabited  by  them,  to  the  number  of 
two  or  three  hundred  families.  In  the  bazars  of  Bakoo 
may  be  found  a  number,  but  they  are  only  transient  mer- 
chants. In  the  suburbs  of  Kooba  is  a  large  village,  of  at 
least  400  families,  having  seven  synagogues.  In  Derbend 
they  reckon  100  families,  and  have  a  caravanserai  to  which 
Jews  alone  resort,  indicating  a  large  population  in  that 
region.  Accordingly,  as  you  advance  northward,  they  are 
said  to  be  numerous,  both  in  the  mountains  and  in  the 
province  of  Northern  Daghistan,  till  you  reach  the  large 
town  of  Andreva  which  is  entirely  inhabited  by  them. 
They  are  all  natives  of  the  country,  born  of  ancestors 
who  have  lived  in  it  for  ages,  and  speaking  its  language  or 
languages.  Except  a  few  in  Derdend  who  are  engaged  in 
trade,  they  are  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Since  coming  un- 
der the  Russian  government,  their  former  oppressions  have 
entirely  ceased,  and  their  worldly  circumstances  now  differ 
little  from  those  of  their  moslem  neighbors.  In  religion, 
they  are  believed  to  be  adherents  of  the  Talmud. 

In  his  missionary  tours  among  the  moslems  of  Daghis- 
tan, Mr.  Zaremba,  of  the  Shoosha  mission,  once  visited  two 
of  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews  in  the  village  near  Kooba, 
on  the  day  of  their  Sabbath.  In  one  of  them  the  exercises 
were  opened  by  an  address  from  a  learned  Rabbi  of  Jeru- 
salem in  Rabbinic  Hebrew,  which  was  interpreted  into 
their  language.  They  were  little  interested,  and  after 
awhile  began  to  disperse.  Mr.  Zaremba  said  to  them, 
'  Why  do  you  leave  I  Ought  you  not  to  remain  and  attend 
the  regular  prayers?'     They  seemed,  to   understand  that 


RECEPTION    AT    KHOIK.  69 

he  wished  to  address  them,  and  called  out  to  him  to  speak, 
if  he  had  any  thing  to  communicate.  He  began  by  ex- 
pressing to  them  his  attachment,  and  that  of  all  Christians, 
to  the  Old  Testament  which  they  received,  as  well  as  his 
high  veneration  for  Abraham  and  the  other  Patriarchs, 
their  ancestors ;  and  then  out  of  those  same  Scriptures,  he 
preached  unto  them  Jesus.  They  listened  with  attention 
and  interest,  and  at  the  close  invited  him  to  their  houses  to 
hear  from  him  farther  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ.  In 
other  places,  also,  Mr.  Zaremba  has  had  interviews  both 
with  Rabbies  and  the  common  people,  and  has  found  the 
latter  especially  disposed  to  hear  him  favorably. 

After  a  ride  of  four  fursakhs,  we  reached  Khoik,  the  first 
village  on  our  road,  at  half  past  1  P.  M.  Its  high  walls 
flanked  with  towers  made  us,  at  first  sight,  hope  to  find  in 
it  the  accommodations  of  a  large  village  for  the  Sabbath. 
But  a  nearer  approach  showed  that  its  walls  were  mere  ru- 
ins, and  on  entering  it  we  found  only  about  twenty  squalid 
mud  cabins,  all  inhabited  by  moslems.  We  had  bid  fare- 
well to  under-ground  houses  on  entering  the  valley  of  the 
Aras,  but  the  custom  of  lodging  in  stables  still  prevailed. 
And  on  stopping  at  the  door  of  the  head  man,  we  were  di- 
rected to  one  of  them  for  our  accommodations.  Antonio 
being  sent  to  reconnoitre,  pronounced  the  otdJch,  or  part 
appropriated  to  travellers,  uninhabitable,  and  we  petitioned 
for  a  room  in  the  house.  The  owner,  having  received  a 
hint  from  our  muleteers  that  we  were  English,  and  not  the 
people  to  make  a  noise  about  a  copper,  sent  word  from  a 
distance  that  one  was  at  our  service ;  but  his  women  met 
us  at  the  door,  and  refused  admittance.  The  old  man 
soon  appeared,  and,  with  a  stentorian  voice  unequalled  for 
harshness,  clearing  the  way,  seized  my  horse's  bridle,  and 
cried,  in  the  same  tone  that  had  extorted  obedience  from 
his  harem,   dusk,  (dismount,  literally  fall,)   asking  if  we 

VOL.  II.  7  * 


?0  ACCOMMODATIONS    AT    KHOIK. 

thought  he  would  let  strangers  go  away  from  his  door  in 
want  of  a  night's  lodging  ! 

The  house,  apparently  the  best  in  the  village,  was  built 
throughout,  floor,  walls  and  terrace,  of  mud.  Fortunately, 
as  its  owner  had  two  wives,  it  had  two  rooms.  The  one  as- 
signed us,  being  the  principal  family  apartment,  was  of 
course  filled  with  every  species  of  dirt,  vermin  and  litter  ; 
and  withal,  as  they  were  in  the  midst  of  the  process  of 
baking,  the  insufferable  smoke  of  the  dried  cow-dung  which 
heated  their  tannoor,  or  cylindrical  oven,  detained  us  a  long 
time  before  we  could  take  possession.  Persuaded  at  last 
by  impatience  that  the  bread  must  be  done,  I  entered,  and 
found  our  host  and  chief  muleteer  shaking  their  shirts  in 
the  oven,  to  dislodge  the  "crawling  creatures "  that  inhabit- 
ed them.  Though  new  to  us  then,  we  afterward  found 
reason  to  believe  that  this  use  of  the  tannoor  is  common, 
and  for  it  alone  we  have  known  it  to  be  heated.  In  such 
ovens  was  our  bread  baked,  by  being  stuck  upon  their 
sides,  and  though  we  would  fain  have  quieted  our  fastidi- 
ousness by  imagining  that  they  were  purified  by  fire,  the 
nature  of  the  fuel  of  which  that  was  almost  invariably  made, 
left  little  room  upon  which  to  found  such  a  conception. 
And  as  for  the  loathsome  company  of  which  our  host  and 
muleteer  had  thus  attempted  to  rid  themselves,  we  found 
them  too  constantly  affecting  our  senses  to  think  of  imag- 
ining them  away ;  for  the  traveller  can  hardly  journey  a 
day  here,  or  in  any  part  of  Turkey,  without  their  annoying 
him,  and  his  only  relief  is  in  a  constant  change  of  his 
linen.  The  apartment  was  finally  cleared  and  swept,  but 
the  old  man  could  give  us  neither  carpet  nor  mat,  and  our 
own  painted  canvass  and  travelling  carpets  were  all  that 
covered  the  ground  on  which  we  sat  and  slept. 

The  surrender  of  the  best  half  of  the  house  to  a  company 
of  strangers,  caused  much  derangement  in  the  concerns  of 
the  family  ;  and,  crowded  as  the  husband,  his  pair  of  wives, 


A  Moslem  family.  71 

and  a  multitude  of  children  were,  into  so  intact, 

some  collision,  of  feeling  at  least,  could  not  fail  to  result. 
The  tones  of  the  old  man's  voice,  however,  which  often 
thundered  upon  us  from  their  apartment,  possessed,  per- 
haps from  frequent  use  for  such  purposes,  a  harshness  admi- 
rably adapted  to  drown  all  domestic  quarrels,  and  as  they 
died  away,  were  generally  followed  by  the  most  perfect 
quiet.  I  ought  to  say,  however,  to  the  credit  of  his  wives, 
that  notwithstanding  their  unwelcome  reception  of  us  at 
first,  they  treated  us,  when  once  admitted  to  the  family, 
with  all  motherly  kindness  :  nor  did  they  hesitate  to  appear 
in  our  room  unveiled,  and  converse  with  us.  In  fact,  little 
of  moslem  etiquette  appeared  in  the  regulations  of  the 
house,  for  the  Christians,  and  even  the  Jew  of  our  caravan, 
found  ready  admittance  into  any  part  of  it  On  our  re- 
turn, the  youngest  child,  taking  fright  at  Mr.  Dwight's  spec- 
tacles, set  to  crying  so  obstinately  as  to  alarm  the  super- 
stitious fears  of  the  old  ladies,  lest  bad  consequences  should 
result,  probably  from  the  evil  eye,  and  they  earnestly  beg- 
ged him  to  read  a  prayer  over  it  from  the  Gospel  to  break 
the  charm !  Whether  the  Armenian  priests  say  prayers 
for  children  in  such  circumstances,  I  am  unable  to  sav : 
but  this  request  seems  to  have  referred  to  such  a  practice. 
I  have  seen  it  done  in  the  Greek  church. 

The  village  is  without  a  mosk.  but  has  one  mollah  who 
teaches  two  or  three  children,  and  another  who  for  acting 
as  tax-gatherer  was  execrated  in  no  measured  terms  by  our 
host.  It  is  the  property  of  Hassan  Khan,  the  governor  of 
the  province,  whose  father,  we  were  assured,  some  thirty 
years  ago,  seized  upon  it,  and  by  an  arbitrary  act  convert- 
ed its  inhabitants,  who  had  formerly  been  freeholders,  into 
tenants.  They  pay,  according  to  the  information  of  our 
host,  35  per  cent,  of  their  produce  to  the  proprietor,  and  a 
capitation  tax  of  a  ducat  (about  #*2/2o)  to  the  emperor. 
None  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  villages  are 
now  freeholders. 


72  MOSLEM    DEVOTIONS. 

Nov.  14.  At  the  first  dawn  of  the  Sabbath,  we  were 
awaked  by  the  devotions  of  our  host.  Having  performed 
the  prescribed  lustrations,  he  began  at  that  hour  to  suppli- 
cate his  God,  in  the  same  inharmonious  tones  with  which 
he  ruled  his  family.  Their  harshness  indeed  was  not  a 
little  aggravated,  by  a  very  distinct  enunciation  of  the 
guttural  sounds  of  the  Arabic,  the  language  of  his  devo- 
tions. His  petitions  were  repeatedly  interrupted  by  a  re- 
proof to  his  family,  a  direction  to  some  child  to  drive  his 
cattle  down  to  the  Aras  to  pasture,  or  some  other  order  for 
the  business  of  the  day.  The  burden  of  them,  of  which 
however  he  understood  nothing,  was  the  mercy  of  God — \ 
that  he  neither  begets  nor  is  begotten — praises  to  him — 
and  remembrances  of  Mohammed  and  his  family.  Having 
extremely  few  words  at  command,  his  repetitions  were 
more  frequent  than  is  usual  with  his  brethren,  and  finally, 
working  himself  into  an  ecstasy,  he  repeated  ya  Allah! 
(Oh  God!)  twenty  or  thirty  times  successively,  as  fast  as 
his  tongue  could  articulate. 

Our  muleteer,  having  been  brought  up  at  the  feet  of 
some  strict  mollah,  and  obtained  the  title  of  Meshedy  by  ma- 
king a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb  of  the  Imam  Riza  at  Meshed, 
was  more  accomplished  and  very  regular  in  his  devotions. 
He  talked  much  about  them,  and  often  when  urged  -to  do 
any  thing  would  say,  let  me  pray  and  then  it  shall  be  at- 
tended to.  They  were  frequently  performed  in  our  pres- 
ence, and  on  one  occasion  we  were  forced  to  take  some 
notice  of  them.  At  Selasiz,  crowded  as  we  were,  he  found 
a  spot  to  spread  his  carpet  and  say  his  prayers  in  the  midst 
of  us,  and  did  it  probably  with  more  formality,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  his  feelings  at  finding  himself  again  in  moslem  so- 
ciety, after  having  been  so  long  among  Christians.  A  comb, 
Avhich  he  always  carried  in  a  leathern  bag  suspended  to 
his  girdle,  was  placed  on  the  extremity  of  his  carpet  before 
him,  his  beard  smoothed  down,  and  his  limbs  nicely  adjust- 


MOUNT    ARARAT.  ?3 

ed,  as  a  preparation.  His  prayer  was  uttered,  sometimes 
audibly,  and  sometimes  by  merely  moving  his  lips ;  and  the 
evolutions  of  his  body,  always  apparently  the  most  essential 
part  of  a  moslem's  devotions,  were  performed  standing, 
kneeling,  and  prostrate.  One  ceremony  was  added,  which 
I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  performed  by  the  sunnies ; 
it  was  the  combing  of  his  beard,  as  an  integral  part  of  his 
devotions.  He  occasionally  stopped  to  take  a  part  in  the 
conversation  of  the  company,  and  at  the  end  his  friends 
passed  many  encomiums  upon  his  performance. 

How  directly  opposed  is  such  worship  to  the  precepts  of 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount !  What  heathen  ever  used  more 
vain  repetitions  than  these  moslems?  Surely  no  Jewish 
hypocrites  were  ever  more  public  in  their  individual  devo- 
tions. Not  only  do  they  pray  standing  in  the  bazars  and 
in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  but  at  Tebriz,  in  the  open 
space  "  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gates  of  the  city,"  is  a 
square  platform  erected  for  the  special  purpose  of  prayer. 
Subsequent  observations  and  inquiries  confirmed  our  first 
impressions,  that  the  lower  class  of  Persians  are  even  more 
regular  in  the  forms  of  worship  than  the  Osmanlies,  and 
that  they  are  very  sincere  in  their  religion.  Yet  in  their 
prayers,  how  can  they  be  sincere  1  for  they  know  not  their 
meaning.  It  is  a  singular  feature  of  the  whole  region  of 
Armenia,  that  every  sect  and  nation  inhabiting  it,  Arme- 
nians, Georgians,  Nestorians,  Turks,  Persians,  and  Kurds, 
address  God  in  an  unknown  tongue  ! 

Sick  at  heart  of  these  abominations  of  the  false  prophet, 
and  wishing  to  retreat  from  our  dirty  den  for  meditation  be- 
coming this  holy  day,  wre  walked  into  the  fields  to  gaze 
upon  Mount  Ararat,  and  reflect  upon  the  time  when  Noah 
in  this  very  valley  builded  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  of- 
fered that  aceptable  sacrifice  of  a  sweet  savor,  which  pro- 
cured for  himself  and  his  posterity  a  divine  title  to  the  earth 
and  its  productions,  and  the  solemn  covenant  that  "while 


74  MOUNT    ARARAT. 

the  earth  remaineth,  seed  time  and  harvest,  and  cold  and 
heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day  and  night  shall 
not  cease."  We  first  saw  that  mountain  the  morning  we 
entered  Nakhchevan,  and  during  the  three  weeks  we  were 
in  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  nothing  but  cloudy  weather  dur- 
ing a  few  days  obscured  it  from  our  sight.  It  was  nearer 
at  any  point  between  here  and  Erivan,  but  perhaps  no 
where  did  we  have  a  better  view  of  it  than  from  this  place. 
The  natives  know  it  under  no  other  name  than  Mdsis  in 
Armenian,  and  Agliur-dagh  (heavy  mountain)  in  Turkish. 
The  name  of  Ararat,  by  which  it  is  called  among  Europe- 
ans, is  applied  in  Scripture  only  to  a  country,  which  is  in 
one  instance  called  a  kingdom.*  The  similar  name  of 
Arardd  was  given  by  the  Armenians,  long  before  they  had 
received  the  Scripture  account  of  the  flood  by  their  con- 
version to  Christianity,  to  the  central,  largest  and  most  fertile 
province  of  their  country,  the  one  which,  with  the  doubtful 
exception  of  some  230  years,  was  the  residence  of  their 
kings  or  governors  from  the  commencement  to  the  termin- 
ation of  their  political  existence,  and  nearly  in  the  centre 
of  which  this  mountain  stands.  The  singular  coincidence, 
considering  the  ease  with  which  so  distinguished  a  province 
might  be  named  by  foreigners  for  the  kingdom  itself, 
argues  much  for  the  identity  of  the  Ararat  of  Scripture 
with  the  Ararad  of  Armenia.t  It  was  on  the  mountains 
of  Ararat  that  the  ark  rested  after  the  flood  ;  and  certainly 
not  among  the  mountains  of  Ararad,  or  of  Armenia  gen* 
erally,  or  of  any  part  of  the  world,  have  I  seen  one,  the 

*  Gen.  8:4.     2  Kings,  19:  37.     Is.  37:  38.     Jer.  51:  27, 

t  The  name  of  Armenia  does  not  occur  in  the  original  of  the  old  Testa- 
ment, unless  we  consider  Miuni,  in  Jerem.  51:  27,  as  an  abridgement  of  it. 
Saint-Martin,  however,  ingeniously  suggests  that  Minni  may  refer  to" the 
Manavazians  a  distinguished  Armenian  clan  descended  from  Manavaz,  a  son 
of  Haig;  the  capital  of  whose  country  was  Manavazagerd,  now  Melazgeru, 
St  .Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  249, 


MOUNT    ARARAT.  75 

majesty  of  whose  appearance  could  plead  half  so  powerfully 
as  this,  a  claim  to  the  honor  of  having  once  been  the  step- 
ping stone  between  the  old  world  and  the  new.  It  lies 
N.  57°  W.  of  Nakhchevan,  and  S.  25°  W.  of  Erivan,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Aras  ;  and  from  almost  every  point 
between  the  two  places,  the  traveller  has  only  to  look  across 
the  valley,  to  take  into  one  distinct  field  of  vision,  without  a 
single  intervening  obstacle,  the  mighty  mass  from  its  base 
to  its  summit.  At  Erivan  it  presents  two  peaks,  one  much 
lower  than  the  other,  and  appears  to  be  connected  with  a 
range  of  mountains  extending  toward  the  northwest,  which, 
though  really  elevated,  are  in  comparison  so  low,  as  only  to 
give  distinctness  to  the  impression  of  its  lonely  majesty. 
From  Nakhchevan,  not  far  from  a  hundred  miles  distant, 
and  also  from  our  present  point  of  observation,  it  appears 
like  an  immense  isolated  cone  of  extreme  regularity,  ri- 
sing out  of  the  low  valley  of  the  Aras ;  and  the  absence  of 
all  intervening  objects  to  show  its  distance  or  its  size, 
leaves  the  spectator  at  liberty  to  indulge  the  most  sublime 
conceptions  his  imagination  may  form  of  its  vastness.  At 
all  seasons  of  the  year,  it  is  covered  far  below  its  summit 
with  snow  and  ice,  which  occasionally  form  avalanches, 
that  are  precipitated  down  its  sides  with  the  sound  of  an 
earthquake,  and,  with  the  steepness  of  its  declivities,  have 
allowed  none  of  the  posterity  of  Noah  to  ascend  it.*  It 
was  now  white  to  its  very  base  with  the  same  hoary  cov- 
ering ;  and  in  gazing  upon  it,  we  gave  ourselves  up  to  the 

*  Report  does  indeed  say  that  a  traveller  has  recently  ascended  it.  But 
the  vartabeds  at  Echmiadzin  strenuously  and  circumstantially  denied  it  as 
a  willful  fabrication.  Lest  they  might  be  biased  by  their  superstitions,  we 
inquired  of  the  governor  of  the  province.  He  said  that  a  German  had  pass- 
ed through  the  countiy  a  year  before,  and  published,  on  his  return  to  Europe, 
that  he  had  ascended  to  the  top,  and  planted  a  cross  upon  it ;  but  that  it  is 
denied  by  the  natives,  and  many  even  of  the  Russians  here  do  not  believe  it. 
The  season  of  the  year  alone  seems  to  furnish  a  sufficient  denial.  He  was 
here  in  the  month  of  November. 


76 


MOUNT    ARARAT. 


impression  that  on  its  top  were  once  congregated  the  only 
inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  that,  while  travelling  in  the 
valley  beneath,  we  were  paying  a  visit  to  the  second  cradle 
of  the  human  race. 

Two  objections  are  made  to  the  supposition  that  Scrip- 
ture refers  to  this  mountain  when  it  speaks  of  "  the  moun- 
tains of  Ararat."  One  is,  that  there  are  now  no  olive  trees 
in  its  vicinity,  from  which  Noah's  dove  could  have  pluck- 
ed her  leaf.  And  it  is  true,  so  far  as  we  could  learn,  that 
that  tree  exists  neither  in  the  valley  of  the  Koor  nor  of  the 
Aras,  nor  on  the  coast  of  the  Caspian,  nor  any  where 
nearer  than  Batoom  and  other  parts  of  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Black  sea,  a  distance  of  seven  days  journey  of  a 
caravan,  or  about  130  miles  in  the  circuitous  route  that 
would  thus  be  taken.  But  might  not  a  dove  make  this 
journey  in  a  day  1  Or  might  not  the  climate  then  have  been 
warmer  than  it  is  now  ?  The  second  objection  is  drawn 
from  the  fact  that  some  of  the  old  versions  and  para- 
phrases, particularly  the  Chaldee  and  the  Syriac,  refer 
"  the  mountains  of  Ararat "  to  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan, 
where  there  is,  not  far  from  Jezeereh,  a  high  mountain 
called  Joody,  on  which  the  moslems  suppose  the  ark  to 
have  rested.*  But  if  the  ark  rested  on  that,  the  posterity 
of  Noah  would,  most  likely,  have  descended  at  once  into 
Mesopotamia,  and  have  reached  Shinar  from  the  north ; 
while,  from  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  they  would  naturally 
have  kept  along  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains  of 
Media,  until  they  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Hamadan 
or  Kermanshah,  which  is  nearly  east  of  Babylon.f  Such 
is  the  route  now  taken  every  day  by  all  the  caravans  from 
this  region  to  Bagdad.  The  Armenians  believe,  not  only 
that  this  is  the  mountain  on  which  the  ark  rested  after  the 
flood,  but  that  the  ark  still  exists  upon  its  top ;  though,  rather 
from  supernatural  than  from  physical  obstacles,  no  one  has 

*   St.  Mart,  vol  1;  n.  260.  f  See.  Gen.  11:  2. 


ZIVEH-DUDENGEH.  77 

yet  been  able  to  visit  it.  A  devout  vartabed,  their  legends 
relate,  once  attempted,  for  this  purpose,  to  ascend  the  moun- 
tain. While  yet  far  from  the  top,  drowsiness  came  upon 
him,  and  he  awoke  at  the  bottom,  in  the  very  spot  whence 
he  had  started.  Another  attempt  resulted  only  in  the 
same  miraculous  failure.  He  then  betook  himself  more 
fervently  to  prayer,  and  started  the  third  time.  Again  he 
slept,  and  awoke  at  the  bottom ;  but  now  an  angel  stood 
before  him  with  a  fragment  of  the  ark,  as  a  token  that  his 
pious  purpose  was  approved  and  his  prayer  answered, 
though  he  could  never  be  allowed  to  reach  the  summit  of 
the  mountain.  The  precious  gift  was  thankfully  received, 
and  is  to  this  day  carefully  preserved,  as  a  sacred  relic,  in 
the  convent  of  Echmiadzin. 

Nov.  15.  We  started  at  sunrise ;  and  as  we  hastened 
over  the  same  undulating  and  gravelly  tract,  in  a  sharp 
frosty  atmosphere,  a  sleeping  fog  gave  the  alluvial  of  the 
Aras  below  us  the  appearance  of  an  extensive  lake.  It 
gradually  broke  up  and  vanished,  and  left  in  its  place  a 
more  cheering  scene  of  numerous  villages  and  extensive 
cultivation.  With  the  exception  of  one  small  hamlet,  how- 
ever, and  a  few  fields  of  grain  and  cotton  around  it,  we 
passed  no  houses  or  cultivation  before  reaching  the  Arpa- 
chai,  at  12  o'clock.  Three  quarters  of  an  hour  beyond, 
we  stopped  at  the  large  village  of  Ziveh-dudengeh,  4  fur- 
sakhs  from  Khoik. 

In  the  Turkish  nomenclature  of  rivers,  Arpa-chai  (barley 
river),  and  Kara-soo  (black  water),  repeatedly  occur,  and 
indicate  that  the  streams  which  bear  the  one  or  the  other 
name  respectively,  are  usefully  appropriated  to  purposes  of 
irrigation,  or  pass  on  in  their  beds  without  contributing  to 
fertilize  the  adjacent  soil.  The  beautifully  limpid  water 
of  this  river,  being  scattered  widely  in  artificial  canals, 
gives  extreme  fertility  to  a  broad  tract,  as  its  flows  down  to 
the  Aras,     It  forms  the  present  boundary  between   the 

VOL.  II.  8 


78  ZIVEH-DUDENGEH, 

provinces  of  Nakhchevan  and  Erivan,  and  in  the  ancient 
divisions  of  Armenia,  was  the  eastern  limit  of  the  province 
of  Ararad.*  The  district  which  it  waters  is  still  called  by 
its  ancient  name,  Sharoor,  though  it  is  sometimes  corrupted 
into  Sheril.  Besides  its  extreme  fertility,  it  is  well  peo- 
pled, and  presents  an  animated  scene  of  about  forty  vil- 
lages, some  of  which  seem  to  be  large. 

The  crops  which  we  saw  were  rice  and  cotton.  Rice  was 
the  most  extensively  cultivated.  From  the  abundance  of 
water  furnished  by  the  river,  it  produces  a  large  stalk,  heavy 
ear,  and  full  bright  kernel,  and  yields  from  five  to  twenty 
fold.  It  was  now  harvested,  and  in  an  open  space  in  front 
of  the  house  where  we  stopped,  the  villagers  were  slowly 
treading  it  out,  like  wheat,  by  driving  around  upon  it  four  or 
five  cattle  abreast.  In  wandering  about  the  village  on  our 
return,  we  found  a  mill  for  cleaning  it.  A  machine  resem- 
bling a  corn-mill,  except  that  a  block  or  plank  of  wood  sup- 
plied the  place  of  the  nether  stone,  first  loosened  a  part  of 
the  husk.  The  process  of  winnowing  separated  that;  and 
the  remainder  was  removed  by  its  being  placed  in  piles  upon 
the  ground,  and  beaten  by  a  large  pointed  instrument  resem- 
bling the  hammer  of  a  forge.  The  whole,  except  the  winnow- 
ing, was  done  by  water,  and  the  rice  came  out  perfectly  clean, 
and  but  little  broken.  The  cotton  here  was  nearly  twice  as 
large  as  that  which  we  had  observed  on  approaching  Nakh- 
chevan ;  but  yet  would  not  compare  at  all,  in  the  height  of  the 
stalk,  the  size  of  the  boll,  or  the  length  of  the  fibre,  with  the 
upland  growth  of  our  southern  States.  The  peasants  were 
now  picking  it  for  the  last  time.  In  every  cotton  field  was. 
another  article  of  produce,  which  I  must  not  omit  to  notice. 
After  having  been  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  burning  but- 
ter for  lights  at  Shaghad  on  the  mountains,  we  were  much 
surprised  to  find  our  lamps  at  Selasiz,  the  first  village  in 
the  valley,  supplied  with  oil.     It  proved  to  be  castor-oil. 

*St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  108. 


VALLEY    OF    THE    ARAS.  79 

And  we  afterward  found,  that,  wherever  cotton  is  raised, 
whether  in  this  valley  or  in  Aderbaijan,  the  palma  Christi, 
or  castor-oil  plant,  is  sowed  with  it,  and  its  oil  used  for 
lamps.  Where  the  soil  or  climate  does  not  allow  of  these 
productions,  tallow  placed  in  an  open  lamp  supplies,  in  vil- 
lages, the  place  of  oil.  In  cities,  it  is  made  into  regular 
candles. 

The  valley  of  the  Aras  is  much  narrower  than  that  of 
the  Koor.  Of  its  comparative  fertility  we  had  little  oppor- 
tunity to  judge,  as  our  path  rarely  led  us  down  to  the  allu- 
vial which  borders  on  the  river.  What  we  saw  of  it,  how- 
ever, and  the  extreme  productiveness  of  the  tracts  watered 
by  the  two  or  three  tributary  streams  that  crossed  our  path, 
ied  us  to  think  its  fertility  could  hardly  be  exceeded.  Yet 
in  no  case  was  any  thing  produced  without  constant  irri- 
gation, caused  by  conducting  water,  sometimes  to  a  great 
distance,  in  artificial  canals.  Wherever  a  canal  could 
sot  be  made  to  reach,  not  only  was  no  crop  cultivated, 
but  even  grass  seemed  hardly  to  grow,  and  unsightly  saline 
weeds  covered  with  thorns,  only  added  to  the  aspect  of  bar- 
renness. If  it  be  true,  as  some  have  imagined,  that  we 
are  to  look  here  for  the  site  of  Eden ;  surely  in  no  part  of 
the  earth  is  the  primeval  curse  more  palpably  inflicted,  than 
in  the  original  paradise  of  Adam.  Nowhere  is  it  more 
true  that  man  '  eats  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  face,'  and 
nowhere  are  '  thorns  and  thistles '  more  spontaneously  pro- 
duced. The  mountains  around,  instead  of  being  covered 
with  trees  as  in  the  Kara-bagh,  or  clothed  with  verdant  pas- 
tures as  at  Erzroom,  present  nothing  but  forbidding  preci- 
pices of  rock  or  of  earth,  apparently  without  even  a  spire 
of  grass.  Their  variegated  colors,  however,  from  white  to 
fiery  red,  embracing  in  fact  almost  every  shade  of  the  rain- 
bow, indicate  that  though  so  miserably  poor  in  the  vegeta- 
ble, they  may  be  rich  in  the  mineral  kingdom.  The  whole 
scene  of  valley  and  mountain  presents  not  a  tree,  except 


80  DAWALY. 

in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  villages.  Their  mud  houses 
are  frequently  half  concealed  in  the  foliage  of  fruit  trees, 
Another  of  their  features,  also,  not  less  unseemly  than  this 
was  ornamental,  deserves  to  be  noticed.  The  cow-dung, 
which  had  been  prepared  for  fuel  during  the  warm  months, 
was  now  piled  in  conical  stacks  at  every  door,  and  formed, 
by  their  height  and  number,  wherever  we  went,  a  more 
prominent  object  than  the  houses  themselves. 

The  compound  name  of  Ziveh-dudengeh  indicates,  what 
we  learned  to  be  a  fact,  that  it  is  composed  of  two  vil- 
lages. It  contains  in  all  about  100  houses,  inhabited  en- 
tirely, like  almost  if  not  quite  every  village  in  Sharoor,  by 
moslems,  and  has  one  mosk  and  three  or  four  mollahs,  one 
of  whom  teaches  ten  or  a  dozen  children.  The  other  vil- 
lages in  the  district,  are  similarly  furnished  with  the  means 
of  education ;  but  they  have  no  central  school  of  a  higher 
order. 

Nov.  16.  We  arose  at  the  earliest  dawn,  and  started  at 
half  past  6  A.  M.  The  summit  of  Ararat  was  whitened  with 
the  broad  light  of  day,  while  the  obscurity  of  night  still 
darkened  its  base ;  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  soon  crowned 
it  with  gold ;  then  gradually  descending,  spread  over  it  to 
its  base  a  robe  of  similar  brilliancy ;  and  finally  shooting 
across  the  plain,  cheered  us  with  their  warmth.  The  tract 
fertilized  by  the  Arpa-chai,  is  bounded  in  this  direction, 
by  a  range  of  rocky  hills  that  shoot  out  from  the  mountains 
nearly  to  the  banks  of  the  Aras.  We  found  a  level  pass 
through  them  at  9  o'clock,  and  entered  upon  a  tract  be- 
yond as  barren  as  that  we  had  left  was  fertile.  With  the 
exception  of  a  small  space,  watered  by  a  rivulet  coming 
down  from  a  valley  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  on  the 
right,  and  ploughed  for  a  scanty  crop  of  grain,  we  observed 
no  cultivation  the  whole  day.  Not  a  small  portion  of  the 
plain  was  incrusted  and  whitened  by  a  layer  of  nitre.  A 
ride  of  6  fursakhs  brought  us  to  the  Armenian  village  of 
Dawaly  at  half  past  2  P.  M. 


DAWALY.  81 

Our  Mohammedan  muleteers  first  inquired  in  vain  for 
lodgings,  in  Turkish.  The  question  was  then  put  by  one 
of  our  attendants,  in  Armenian,  and  a  little  boy,  starting  up 
with  an  animated  countenance,  exclained,  '  Are  you  Ar- 
menians ?  Follow  me,  and  I'll  see  if  father  can't  give  you 
a  room.'  We  were  soon  furnished  with  unusually  good 
stable  accommodations.  Our  little  friend,  and  a  brother  or 
two  of  nearly  the  same  size,  listened  with  much  eagerness 
to  our  conversation  in  the  course  of  the  evening  respecting 
education,  and  at  the  end  preferred  an  earnest  request,  that 
we  would  come  and  establish  a  school  for  them,  complain- 
ing sadly  that  their  priests  took  no  pains  with  them.  They 
were  the  only  Armenians  in  the  country,  young  or  old,  so 
far  as  I  recollect,  that  exhibited  to  us  any  desire  for  edu- 
cation. We  were  much  amused,  on  our  return  from  Eri- 
van,  by  their  bringing  a  serious  charge  against  Antonio  of 
not  being  a  Christian,  because  he  had  been  so  heterodox 
as  to  kill  a  fowl  with  its  head  to  the  west.  The  Arme- 
nian practice  in  these  parts,  it  appeared,  is  to  turn  the 
head  of  whatever  animal  they  slay  toward  the  east,  and 
make  over  it  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity.  Their  church,  like  the  Greek,  holding  the  apostol- 
ical command  to  abstain  '  from  things  strangled  and  from 
blood,'  to  be  still  binding,  most  strictly  orders  that  the 
jugular  vein  of  all  animals  intended  for  food  shall  be  cut. 
Consequently  a  strangled  fowl  is  held  in  utter  abomination, 
nor  will  they  eat  even  any  kind  of  game  that  is  shot,  unless 
its  throat  is  cut  before  it  expires.  Mohammedans,  too, 
not  less  carefully  abstain  from  whatever  has  died  in  its 
blood ;  and  also  make  a  religious  ceremony  of  the  simple 
business  of  killing  a  fowl,  by  cutting  off  its  head  "  in  the 
name  of  God  most  merciful." 

Dawaly  contains  about  100  families,  all  of  whom  emi- 
grated from  Magoo  at  the  close  of  the  last  war.  Their 
houses  and  manner  of  life  indicated  flourishing  circumstan- 

VOL.  II.  8* 


82  KURDS. 

ces,  and  large  quantities  of  excellent  wheat,  which  they  were 
now  winnowing  upon  their  threshing  floors  around  the 
village,  proved  the  productiveness  of  their  lands.  It  is  the 
only  crop  they  cultivate.  Their  soil  belongs  to  the  crown, 
but  no  taxes  are  yet  demanded.  They  have  one  mud- 
walled  church,  with  three  priests,  but  no  school.  Very 
few  are  able  to  read,  and  not  more  than  two  or  three  can 
write.  Magoo,  from  whence  they  came,  is  a  district  of 
the  Persian  province  of  Aderbaijan,  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  Aras  nearly  opposite  Dawaly,  having  for  its  capital  a 
town  of  the  same  name.  It  corresponds  with  the  Arme- 
nian canton  of  Shavarshan  or  Ardoz,  in  which  is  the  con- 
vent of  Tateos  Arakeal.  Our  host  estimated  the  number 
who  emigrated  from  it  at  1000  families,  including  all  the 
Armenian  inhabitants  of  the  villages.  In  the  town,  also, 
not  more  than  50  Armenian  families  remain ;  the  rest  of 
its  present  population  consists  of  about  150  moslem  fam- 
ilies, of  whom  nearly  all  are  Kurds.  The  Armenians  had 
not  a  school  in  the  whole  district. 

Among  the  people  at  Dawaly,  numbers  wore  the  Osmanly 
dress  of  turban  and  shalwar.  We  found  that  they  were 
Kurds.  I  have  already  alluded  to  that  people,  as  forming 
a  part  of  the  population  of  Kara-bagh.  They  inhabit  two 
mountainous  districts,  one  of  which  separates  that  province 
from  Erivan,  and  is  not  far  from  this  village ;  and  the  other 
lies  in  the  same  range  of  mountains  to  the  south  of  where 
we  crossed  them,  on  our  way  from  Shoosha  to  Nakhchevan. 
The  number  in  the  former  district  was  stated  to  us  at  1500, 
and  in  the  latter  at  1700  families;  but  the  estimate  is 
probably  too  large.  Many  Armenian  villages  are  scattered 
among  them.  They  live  a  nomadic  life,  and  in  the  winter 
migrate  to  the  warm  valley  of  the  Aras,  much  as  their  pas- 
toral neighbors  of  the  Turkish  language  do  to  that  of  the 
Koor,  and  spend  the  cold  months  in  tents,  or  in  apartments 
furnished  them  by  the  villagers.  Many  were  lodged  in  this  vil- 


ST.    GREGORY    LOOSAVORICH.  83 

age,  and  one  or  two  families  occupied  another  part  of  the  same 
suite  of  stables  in  which  we  were  accommodated  Like  their 
countrymen  every  where,  they  are  robbers  by  nature,  bat  the 
Russian  police  makes  them  harmless  citizens.  They  are 
ignorant  in  the  extreme,  and  their  attachment  to  the  mos- 
lem  faith  is  more  bigoted  than  that  of  their  neighbors. 
The  missionaries  at  Shoosha  once,  in  a  visit  to  two  or  three 
of  their  villages,  found  them  so  easily  exasperated  by  a 
few  words  against  Mohammed,  as  to  have  been  ready, 
but  for  fear  of  the  Russians,  to  proceed  to  open  violence. 

Nov.  17.  Our  day's  ride  to  Ardisher  was  4  fursakhs, 
across  a  plain  as  little  cultivated,  and  almost  as  barren  as 
that  of  yesterday.  From  it,  at  some  distance  to  the  left, 
appeared  the  convent  of  Khor-virab,  on  a  rocky  eminence 
rising  out  of  the  alluvial  of  the  river.  It  derives  its  name, 
which  signifies  a  deep  pit,  from  the  celebrated  cave  within 
its  precincts,  in  which,  according  to  the  legendary  histo- 
ry of  Armenia,  St.  Gregory  Loosavorich  was  confined  by 
king  Durtad  for  fourteen  years,  in  the  midst  of  serpents, 
and  in  the  endurance  of  multiplied  torments  ;*  and  from 
which  the  conversion  of  the  king  and  the  whole  nation  to 
Christianity,  by  means  of  his  sanctity  and  miraculous  pow- 
ers, alone  released  him.  The  Armenians  regard  it  with 
the  most  superstitious  veneration,  and  it  is  hardly  less  an 
object  of  pilgrimage  than  Echmiadzin.  In  explaining  its 
sanctity  to  Antonio,  some^  Armenian  fellow-travellers  this 
morning  advanced  sentiments  respecting  the  character  of 
St.  Gregory,  which,  being  opposed  by  him,  led  to  a  storm  of 
words  that  attracted  our  attention.  One  from  Bayezeed 
asserted  that  he  was  a  prophet;  another  from  Maragha, 
that  he  was  next  to  God  ;  and  a  third  from  Kara-bagh,  that 
he  was  actually  divine  !  Antonio  laughed  at  their  ignorance, 
and  said  that  for  aught  he  knew  he  might  be  a  saint,  but 
he  was  no  more  than  a  man,  and  much  like  the  English 

*St.  Mart.  vol.  2:  p.  419. 


84  KHOR-VIRAB. 

and  German  missionaries,  who  in  our  days  go  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  heathen.  Provoked  at  his  low  ideas  of  their 
great  saint,  and  taking  into  consideration  that  he  rejected 
fasting,  by  the  effects  of  which  they  were  probably  them- 
selves a  little  soured  to-day,  it  being  Wednesday,  they 
agreed  to  stigmatize  him  with  the  epithet  of  heretic.  You 
may  suppose  that  they  were  unusually  bigoted  and  igno- 
rant, and  perhaps  they  were,  but  we  had  already  heard,  at 
Shoosha,  of  a  similar  expression  respecting  the  divine  char- 
acter of  St.  Gregory,  and  even  Nerses  Shnorhali  seems  to 
have  attributed  to  him  the  most  full  prophetic  rank.  "  Is 
a  rite,"  he  asks,  "  appointed  by  St.  Gregory,  at  all  inferior 
to  those  which  owe  their  origin  to  the  holy  apostles  ? — [by 
him]  who,  in  respect  to  insufferable  torments  endured  for 
the  name  of  Christ,  heavenly  power  received  from  him, 
and  the  conversion  of  such  a  multitude  to  his  worship,  was 
not  at  all  behind  them"!* 

We  visited  Khor-virab  on  our  return  from  Erivan.  It  is 
about  two  hours  from  Ardisher.  No  bishop  resides  in  it ; 
and  of  the  three  vartabeds  who  do,  only  one  was  on  the 
ground.  The  church  is  the  principal  building,  and,  though 
smaller,  is  in  the  same  style  and  taste  as  that  of  Datev. 
Being  built  of  fine  rose-colored  freestone,  regularly  hewn 
within  and  without,  it  was  neat  as  well  as  solid.  The  old 
vartabed  affirmed  that  it  was  built  in  the  life  time  of  St. 
Gregory,  by  his  grandsons.  We  were  not  slow  to  inquire 
for  the  sacred  pit.  A  little  chapel  has  been  erected  over 
it  in  a  corner  of  the  quadrangular  court-yard  of  the  con- 
vent. Taking  each  a  lighted  taper  from  the  altar,  we 
entered  a  small  door  beneath  it,  and  descending  a  perpen- 
dicular shaft,  reached  the  bottom  of  the  pit  by  a  ladder 
perhaps  30  feet  long.  It  is  circular,  15  or  20  feet  in  diam- 
eter, walled  up  artificially  with  stone,  and  covered  with  a 
dome.     Antonio  was  disappointed  to  find  the  horrible  pit 

*  Unthanragan,  p.  245. 


ARDASHAD.  85 

look  so  comfortable,  and,  accustomed  at  the  distance  of 
Smyrna  to  hear  that  the  saint  was  fed  by  angels  in  his 
confinement,  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  be  directed  by 
our  guide  to  a  small  crevice  in  the  dome,  through  which 
his  daily  loaf  of  bread  was  conveyed  to  him  by  a  charitable 
old  woman. 

The  position  of  Khor-virab  helps  materially  to  fix  the 
site  of  the  ancient  Ardashad  (Artaxata),  the  city  which 
boasted  of  Hannibal  for  its  founder,  and  is  so  often  men- 
tioned by  Greek   and  Roman  writers   as  the   capital   of 
Armenia,  during  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 
For,  whether  the  legend  that  gave  birth  to  the  convent  be 
true  or  false,  it  had  undoubtedly  gained  currency  while  the 
location  of  Ardashad  was  yet  well  known ;  and  that  the 
Khor-virab  was  in  the  citadel  of  that  city,  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  story.*     Nor  does  the  location  disagree  with 
that  which  is  assigned  by  Armenian  writers  to  Ardashad  ; 
which  was   at   the  junction   of  the   Medzamor  with  the 
Aras.f     The  Medzamor  was  undoubtedly  the  river  that 
now  flows  by  Ardisher,  as  there  is  no  other  of  any  kind  be- 
tween the  valley  of  the  Zengy  and  Sharoor.J     It  enters 
the  Aras  but  a  little  above  Khor-virab ;  and  the  Aras  flows 
along  in  plain  sight,  about  half  a  mije  distant.     The  rocky 
eminence,  too,  on  which  the  convent  stands,  is  the  only 
spot  adapted  for  a  citadel,  and  the  low  soil  around,  being 
extremely  moist  and  in  many  places  marshy,  must  render 
the   spot,   as  was  Ardashad,   very  unhealthy.§      We  ob« 
served,  however,  no  signs  of  former  fortifications  or  edi- 
fices, and  the  vartabed,   (who  said  that  his  convent  stood 
within  the  precincts  of  that  city,)  confessed  that  no  ruins  of 
it  are  now  to  be  found. — We   had  from  Khor-virab,  our 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  15. 

t  Chamchean,  P.  2:  c.  2.     St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  117. 

%  St,  Mart.  vol.  1 ;  p.  40,  §  See  Mos.  Choren.  Lib.  2:  c.  46. 


OO  ARDISHER. 

nearest  view  of  mount  Ararat.  The  limit  of  the  Russian 
territory  here  is  not  the  river,  but  the  mountain.  So  that 
in  Ararat  centre  the  boundaries  of  the  three  empires  of 
Russia.  Turkey,  and  Persia. 

Ardisher  is  inhabited  by  another  colony  of  emigrants 
from  the  Persian  territory.  They  came  from  the  district  of 
Salmas,  and  form  a  village  of  91  houses,  the  newness  of 
which  is  indicated  by  the  entire  absence  of  trees.  It  had  no 
school.  We  were  the  guests  of  a  melik,  who  seemed  to  be 
the  head  of  the  village,  though  not  the  proprietor  of  the 
soil,  for  that  belonged  to  the  crown.  The  title  borne  by 
him  is  often  given  by  the  Shah  to  Armenians  in  his  realm, 
and  though  frequently  hereditary,  does  not  indicate  any  anti- 
quity of  family,  much  less  a  descent  from  the  ancient  no- 
bility of  the  nation.  It  is  itself  perhaps  no  older  than  the 
time  of  Shah  Abbas,  who  gave  it  to  the  Armenian  magis- 
trates, appointed  to  preside  over  the  colonists  whom  he 
carried  to  Isfahan.* 

Within  a  few  rods  of  Ardisher  are  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
city,  to  the  examination  of  which  we  devoted  a  part  of  our 
afternoon.  Its  citadel  resembles  an  artificial  hill  surrounded 
by  a  wall  and  a  ditch.  The  city  itself  had  double  walls, 
which  are  now  nothing  but  large  mounds  of  earth,  inclosing 
an  extensive  tract  with  one  or  two  small  villages.  In  no 
part  did  we  discover  any  traces  of  stone-work,  and  the  whole 
seems  to  have  been  built,  in  the  modern  style  of  the  coun- 
try, of  mud.  The  name  of  the  modern  village  might  natu- 
rally be  expected  to  afford  a  clue  to  that  of  the  ancient  city  . 
but  the  only  trace  I  find  of  such  a  name  in  these  parts  is, 
that  Ardashad  was  called  in  later  times  Ardashar.f  The 
location  forbids  us  to  suppose  that  city  to  have  been  here- 
We  were  inclined  to  think  that  they  are  the  ruins  of  Tovin, 
a  city  which,  from  its  foundation  in  A.  D.  350  to  A.  D.  859, 
was  the  capital  of  the  country,  and  the  name  of  which  fre- 

*  Chamchean,  P.  7:  c.  9.  t  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  119. 


SINGULAR    FASTING.  87 

quently  occurs  in  history,  especially  during  the  reign  of  the 
Persian  and  Arabian  governors.  It  was  situated  to  the 
north  of  Ardashad,  in  a  more  healthy  spot,  on  the  river 
Azad  or  Medzamor,  and  its  name  signified  a  hill.*  A 
river,  which  must  be  the  same,  now  comes  down  from  the 
mountains  here,  and  fertilizes  a  broad  tract ;  and  though  it 
is  so  distributed  into  small  canals  for  purposes  of  irriga- 
tion, that  the  main  bed  cannot  be  distinguished,  one  of  the 
branches  passes  directly  by  the  ruined  walls. 

Nov.  18.  Our  lodgings  the  last  night,  though  not  entire- 
ly separated  from  the  stable,  were  sufficiently  elevated  to 
be  but  little  affected  by  it ;  decent  Persian  felts  covered 
the  floor ;  and  all  looked  so  comfortable,  that  we  began,  on 
entering  them,  even  to  meditate  upon  the  advantages  of  a 
stable,  as  a  lodging  place  for  travellers.  But  as  evening 
came  on,  several  other  parties  were  introduced  into  the 
same  room,  and  quite  filled  it.  The  greatest  disadvantage, 
perhaps,  of  a  crowded  sleeping  room  is,  that  its  inmates 
can  never  agree  to  cease  talking,  and  go  to  sleep,  at  the 
same  time.  Our  companions  to-night,  however,  were  so 
uncommonly  taciturn  over  their  fasting  supper  of  dry  bread 
and  raw  onions,  that  we  still  lay  down  with  the  hope  of  un- 
disturbed repose.  But  midnight  was  hardly  passed,  when 
the  scene  entirely  changed,  and  animated  conversation 
interrupted  our  slumbers.  A  table,  loaded  with  joints  of 
meat  and  other  substantial  provisions,  which  each  had 
brought  in  his  saddle-bags  from  home,  was  spread  upon  the 
centre  of  the  floor ;  and  the  canonical  hours  of  the  fast 
being  now  over,  nearly  the  whole  company  were  indulging 
heartily  in  its  good  cheer,  little  caring  that  they  kept  us 
heretics  awake  till  near  morning.  One  of  our  fellow-travel- 
lers, who  had  been  the  most  forward,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
day,  to  charge  Antonio  with  heresy  for  not  fasting,  ate  with 
apparently  the   best  relish,  and  talked  the  loudest.     Such 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  119. 


REACH    ERIVAN. 


facts  tended  to  show  us,  what  we  were  assured  by  different 
individuals  is  true,  that  the  fasts  are  universally  considered  a 
burden,  and  kept,  not  from  the  heart  and  in  a  spiritual  man- 
ner, but  because  they  are  commanded ;  that  the  mere 
external  act  is  generally  regarded  as  in  some  way  meritori- 
ous to  cancel  sin ;  and  that  they  decidedly  contribute  to 
promote  a  self-righteous  and  censorious  spirit. 

We  started  at  half  past  7  A.  M.  In  crossing  the  tract 
irrigated  by  the  river  already  mentioned,  a  new  species  of 
plough  attracted  our  notice.  The  end  of  its  beam  rested 
upon  an  axle  supported  by  two  wheels,  one  of  which,  being 
designed  to  run  in  the  furrow,  was  so  much  larger  than  the 
other  as  to  preserve  the  horizontal  level.  A  boy  rode  upon 
each  yoke,  and  cheered  himself  or  the  cattle  by  a  song. 
Uncultivated  and  barren  hills  separate  this  district  from  the 
valley  of  Erivan.  In  crossing  them  we  met  numerous 
caravans  of  cattle.  Though  the  sight  had  now  become 
familiar,  I  have  hardly  yet  mentioned  it.  Throughout  the 
valleys  of  the  Koor  and  the  Aras,  and  in  Aderbaijan,  the 
ox  is  universally  used  as  a  beast  of  burden.  A  pack-saddle 
is  fitted  to  his  back,  and  he  is  driven  in  caravans  like  the 
horse,  with  almost  as  heavy  a  burden.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  to  see  a  man  riding  upon  an  ox. 

We  entered  Erivan  a  little  after  midday,  and  drove  to 
the  Georgian  caravanserai,  with  the  hope  that,  being  the 
largest  in  the  city,  it  might  afford  us  tolerable  lodgings. 
To  our  surprise,  not  a  key  could  be  turned  for  us,  without 
orders  from  the  police.  Having  a  letter  for  the  governor 
of  the  province  of  Armenia,  from  the  governor  of  the 
Mussulman  Provinces  whom  we  had  met  at  Shoosha,  we 
sent  it  immediately,  with  our  passports  and  a  petition  that 
we  might  have  where  to  lay  our  heads.  But  the  governor 
was  absent,  and  the  police  office  was  closed  for  the  Rus- 
sian siesta,  which,  in  these  provinces,  suspends  all  inter- 
course with  official  characters,  from  12  to  about  4  o'clock 


DESCRIPTION    OF    ERIVAN.  «y 

every  day.  There  was  no  remedy,  and  throwing  our  bag- 
gage upon  the  ground  in  the  open  court,  we  summoned  all 
the  patience  at  our  command,  to  wait  till  we  could  be  at- 
tended to.  Near  sunset,  a  little  room  was  finally  opened. 
It  was  a  complete  prisoner's  cell,  with  naked  stone  walls 
covered  by  a  solid  arch,  and  a  floor  of  earth  having  so 
many  hillocks  and  stones  in  its  surface,  that  with  only 
bare  carpets  for  beds,  we  found  much  difficulty  in  adjust- 
ing our  bones  to  its  inequalities. — As  we  left  for  Echmi- 
adzin the  morning  after  our  arrival,  and  on  our  return  had 
our  observations  limited  by  my  ague  and  fever,  you  must 
expect  but  a  poor  account  of  the  place. 

Erivan  seems  to  have  been  first  fortified  and  raised  into 
importance,  in  the  earlier  reigns  of  the  Sofian  dynasty;  and, 
though  occasionally  taken  by  the  Osmanlies,  it  has  from 
that  period  been  considered  the  chief  place  in  the  Persian 
division  of  Armenia.     Under  the  present  dynasty,  it  was 
the  residence  of  a  governor  with  the  title  of  serddr,  who, 
for  his  power  and  the  importance  of  his  territories,  ranked 
among  the  highest  officers  of  Persia,  until  it  fell  during 
the  last  war  into  the  hands  of  the  Russian  emperor.     By 
him  it  has  been  made  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Arme- 
nia, which  we  found  governed  by  an  Armenian  with  the 
title  of  prince,  and  the  rank  of  a  general  in  the  army.     It 
is  situated  at  a  distance  of  many  miles  from  the  Aras,  in 
a  broken  valley  through  which  flows  the  river  Zengy,  the 
outlet  of  the  lake  of  Sevan,  (called  in  Turkish  Gokchch 
derya,  or  Azure  sea.)    Surrounded  on  the  north  by  arid  and 
sunburnt  mountains  which  concentrate  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
its  situation  is  in  the  summer  extremely  hot,  and  prover- 
bial for  intermittent  fevers,  and  the  affections  of  the  liver 
that  accompany  them.     But  sickness  has  here  its  usual  at- 
tendant of  fertility.    Erivan  is  not  less  proverbial  for  its  fruits, 
than  for  its  diseases.     Though  we  had  found  neither  vine- 
yards nor  wine  since  leaving  Nakhchevan,  all  the  sunny  hills 

VOL.  II.  9 


90  DESCRIPTION    OF  ERIVAN. 

which  compose  the  valley  around  this  city,  were  covered 
with  vines.  Some  situations  are  so  warm  as  to  allow  them 
to  remain  exposed  to  the  air  the  whole  winter,  but  gener- 
ally they  were  now  slightly  covered  with  leaves  or  straw. 
Among  the  fruits  in  the  bazar,  (which  were  the  same  as  at 
Nakhchevan,)  melons  and  apples  were  uncommonly  fine, 
and  the  latter,  unless  my  taste  had  become  corrupted  by  the 
miserable  specimens  which  the  Mediterranean  affords,  would 
even  compare  with  the  productions  of  American  orchards. 

The  citadel  is  separate  from  the  city,  at  the  distance 
of  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south,  and  is  almost  a 
distinct  town.  Surrounded  by  merely  a  mud  wall  and  a 
trench,  on  ground  sloping  but  slightly  away  from  it,  it  pre- 
sents to  the  spectator  from  the  east  an  appearance  of  little 
strength.  But  its  western  wall,  standing  on  the  brink  of 
the  river  Zengy,  which  here  flows  through  a  remarkable 
chasm  formed  of  high  perpendicular  ledges  on  either  side, 
seems  perfectly  impregnable.  The  city  itself  is  without 
walls,  and  though  superior  to  Nakhchevan  in  the  size  and 
structure  of  its  houses,  has  still  an  appearance  of  decay. 
Connected  with  our  caravanserai  was  a  large  and  appa- 
rently new  bazar,  consisting  of  two  streets  of  shops  cross- 
ing each  other  at  right  angles,  arched  over  in  the  usual 
style  with  a  succession  of  domes,  and  built  of  brick.  But 
not  even  there,  was  there  sufficient  business  doing  to  re- 
move the  impression  made  by  our  decayed  caravanserai, 
that  the  trade  of  the  place  is  in  a  languishing  condition. 

We  met,  at  Echmiadzin,  the  bishop  of  Erivan,  who  is 
little  more  than  a  suffragan  or  chorepiscopus  of  the  Cathol- 
icos.  He  informed  us  that  the  province  of  Erivan  now 
contains  14,002  families  of  Armenians  and  8000  of  mos- 
lems,  inhabiting  502  villages.  Whereas  before  the  war, 
there  were  but  302  villages,  and  the  number  of  families 
did  not  exceed  12,000  in  all.  The  population  of  the  city 
is  said  to  be  about  1800  moslem  and   700  Armenian  fam- 


RIDE    TO    ECHMIADZIN.  91 

ilies.*  We  were  prevented  by  ill  health  from  visiting  ei- 
ther the  school  in  town,  or  that  in  the  neighboring  village 
of  Ashterak. — There  are  now  no  relics  of  the  branch  of 
the  Jesuit  mission  of  Isfahan,  which  was  established  here 
in  1683  for  the  express  purpose  of  converting  the  Catholi- 
cos  to  the  faith  of  Rome.f  No  papal  Armenians  are  found 
in  the  province. 

Nov.  19.  We  left  Eriyan  at  half  past  11  A.  M.  for 
Echmiadzin.  Descending  into  the  valley  of  the  Zengy  be- 
neath the  walls  of  the  citadel,  we  crossed  its  transparent 
stream  by  a  stone  bridge.  Cultivation,  particularly  of  the 
vine,  extended  perhaps  a  mile  beyond ;  and  then,  nothing 
but  an  undulating,  uncultivated  and  gravelly  soil  succeed- 
ed, till  we  reached  the  convent ;  a  distance  of  at  least  12 
miles  from  the  city,  in  the  direction  of  Erzroom. 

*  I  am  indebted  for  this  estimate  of  the  population  of  the  city,  to  an  arti- 
cle in  the  Asiatic  Journal,  by  Klaproth.    Vol  6:  p.  108. 

f  Lett.  Ed.  et  Cur.  vol.  3:  p.  421. 


LETTER    XV. 

ECHMIADZIN. 

St.  Hripsime — Vagharshabad — Description  of  the  convent — Our  reception 
by  the  monks — The  church — Ceremony  of  the  mass — Doctrine  of  the 
mass — Communion — Confession — Pilgrimages — Accommodations  of  the* 
vartabeds. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  ecclesiastical  capital  of  the  Armenians  is  called  by 
the  Turks,  Uch-keleeseh,  or  the  three  churches ;  the  number 
that  actually  first  stikes  the  view  of  the  traveller  approach- 
ing from  Erivan.  Two  of  them  are  without  the  precincts 
of  the  convent,  and  of  small  dimensions.  They  are  dedica- 
ted to  the  two  virgins  Hripsime  and  Kayane,  who,  with 
thirty-seven  others,  are  reported  by  Armenian  tradition  to 
have  fled  from  a  nunnery  at  Rome,  during  the  persecution 
under  Diocletian,  to  Armenia;  where  Durtad,  then  a  hea- 
then and  the  creature  of  Diocletian,  martyred  them,  on  the 
spots  now  occupied  by  their  churches  *  Though  Kayane 
was  the  abbess,  Hripsime  being  of  the  imperial  family  of 
Claudius  Ceesar,  has  been  most  honored  by  posterity,  in 
the  size  of  her  church  and  the  veneration  of  her  relics. 
Her  church,  which  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  St. 
Gregory  Loosavorich,  but  has  been  often  demolished  and 
rebuilt  since,  stands  just  on  the  right  of  the  road,  perhaps 

*  The  only  other  members  of  this  celebrated  sisterhood,  whose  names  tradi- 
tion seems  to  have  preserved,  were  Nooni  and  Mani.  They  separated  from 
the  others.  Nooni  was  the  female  captive  that  converted  the  Georgians  to 
the  faith;  and  Mani  suffered  martyrdom  at  Kemakh,  in  High  Armenia. ^- 
See  Mukhitar's  Arm.  Diet,  and  Mos,  Choren,  Lib.  2:  c.  83, 


VAGHARSHABAD.  93 

half  a  mile  before  reaching  the  convent,  and  is  a  solidly 
built  structure  of  hewn  stone,  bearing  an  appearance  of 
much  antiquity.  The  urn  containing  her  relics,  first  de- 
posited under  the  signet  of  St.  Gregory,  and  afterward 
sealed  also  by  Isaac  the  Great  and  the  Catholicos  Abra- 
ham, was  in  the  seventeenth  century  pilfered  by  two  Latin 
monks.  All  was  recovered,  however,  by  the  bereaved 
monks  of  Echmiadzin,  except  four  parts;  one  of  which 
is  now  adored  in  the  Armenian  church  at  Venice,  anoth- 
er is  treasured  up  by  the  Latin  friars  at  Goa  in  Hindos- 
tan,  a  third  lies  deposited  under  the  foundations  of  a 
church  near  Nakhchevan,  and  the  fourth,  after  remaining 
long  at  New  Joolfah,  found  its  way  at  last,  through  the 
hands  of  a  pearl  merchant  of  Bagdad,  into  a  church  in 
Galata  of  Constantinople.* 

Between  the  church  of  St.  Hripsime  and  the  convent, 
and  just  without  the  walls  of  the  latter,  is  the  village  of 
Vagharshabad,  once  the  royal,  as  the  adjoining  monastery 
now  is  the  patriarchal,  capital  of  the  country.  It  existed 
many  centuries  under  the  name  of  Vartkes,  but  was  rebuilt 
in  the  second  century  and  called  Vagharshabad,  or  the  city 
of  Vagharsh,  by  a  king  of  that  name,  and  became  for  more 
than  a  century  the  residence  of  his  successors.f  It  presents 
nothing  but  a  crowded  collection  of  mud  cabins,  perhaps 
500  in  number ;  and  the  royal  city  of  Vagharsh  is  now  the 
exclusive  property  of  the  successors  of  St.  Gregory. 

The  convent  derives  its  name  from  the  church  which  it 
incloses,  and  in  the  supposed  sanctity  of  which  it  had  its 
origin.  Echmiadzin  is  an  Armenian  sentence  which  means, 
the  Only  Begotten  descended,  and  the  church  is  so  called 
in  commemoration  of  a  pretended  appearance  of  the  Sa- 
vior to  St.  Gregory  Loosavorich,  upon  the  spot  where  it  is 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  15,  24.  P.  4:  c.  17.  P  7:  c.  9. 
f  Chamchean,  P.  1 :  c.  5.  P.  3:  c.  13.    St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  115. 
VOL.  II.  9* 


94  DESCRIPTION   OF   ECHMIADZIN. 

built.  It  claims  to  have  been  founded  by  the  saint  himself 
more  than  1500  years  ago,  and  local  legend  even  pretends 
that  the  original  structure  was  built  on  a  model  showed 
him  in  the  heavenly  vision.  What  order  the  supernatural 
architecture  assumed,  however,  we  have  not  now  an  oppor- 
tunity to  know,  for  we  are  told  that  having  gone  to  ru- 
ins it  was  restored  and  greatly  improved  by  a  subsequent 
Catholicos,  in  A.  D.  618.  Though  always  highly  venera- 
ted, it  did  not  become  the  seat  of  the  Catholicoses  until 
A.  D.  1441,  when  Armenia  proper  seceded  from  the  juris- 
diction of  the  see  of  Sis.  Since  then  it  has  ever  remained 
the  ecclesiastical  metropolis  of  the  nation.* 

The  whole  of  the  premises  are  surrounded  by  a  high  wall 
flanked  with  circular  towers,  and  have  externally  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  fortress.  Within,  is  a  city  in  miniature. 
The  principal  edifices,  of  different  ages  and  styles,  and 
containing  the  cells  of  the  monks,  magazines,  refectories, 
and  various  other  apartments,  surround  a  quadrangle  about 
two  hundred  and  twenty  feet  square,  in  the  centre  of  which 
stands  the  church.  From  hence  a  gate  on  the  south  opens 
into  an  extensive  yard,  with  barns  and  stables  around  it 
for  horses  and  other  animals,  among  which  a  number  of 
camels  were  kneeling  when  we  entered.  Another  passage 
on  the  same  side  leads  into  an  open  court,  surrounded  by  a 
continuous  building  of  two  stories  like  a  caravanserai,  de- 
signed apparently  for  the  accommodation  of  pilgrims.  Two 
other  passages  open  on  the  northern  side.  One  is  a  private 
entry  to  a  garden  of  considerable  extent,  surrounded  on 
two  sides  by  buildings,  and  considered  the  peculiar  prem- 
ises of  the  Catholicos.  It  has  an  air  of  retirement  and 
comfort.  The  other  conducts  to  the  main  gate  in  the  east- 
ern wall  cf  the  convent,  through  a  bazar  of  forty  or  fifty 
shops,  which  being  within  its  walls  seems  to  form  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  establishment. 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  116.     Chamcbean,  P.  4:  c.  17.  P.  7:  c.  3. 


RECEPTION    BY    THE    MONKS.  95 

We  arrived  with  a  letter  from  Serope,  the  present  bishop 
of  Astrakhan,  to  the  Catholicos,  and  another  to  his  secreta- 
ry from  the  bishop  of  Aderbaijan.  They  were  sent  for- 
ward by  Antonio,  and  the  Catholicos  immediately  ordered 
the  best  room  for  our  accommodation.  The  vartabed,  how- 
ever, who  as  master  of  ceremonies  was  to  execute  the  or- 
der, declared  that  the  room  was  to  be  occupied  by  prince 
BebutofF,  the  governor  of  the  province,  and  his  lady,  who 
were  expected  in  the  evening,  and  another  was  given  us  in 
the  back  suite  of  apartments  designed  for  pilgrims.  It  was 
good  and  honorable  enough,  perhaps,  but  its  position  was 
lonely  and  seemed  completely  to  exclude  us  from  whatever 
was  going  on  among  the  inmates  of  the  convent.  The  eve- 
ning of  our  arrival  being  Friday,  Antonio,  probably  more 
from  a  regard  to  his  own  appetite  than  ours,  intimated  to 
the  servant  who  was  appointed  to  attend  upon  us,  that  meat 
would  be  very  acceptable  for  dinner.  But  the  convent,  we 
were  assured,  contained  that  day  none  but  fasting  food,  and 
so  we  satisfied  our  hunger  with  boiled  beans  and  peas  and 
onions.  Besides  being  incommoded  by  a  diet  so  unfit  for  a 
stomach  weakened  by  disease,  we  remembered  what  hospi- 
tality had  done  at  Datev,  and  feared  that  this  strictness  was 
an  indication  that  we  were  to  find  none  of  it  here.  The 
morning  confirmed  our  suspicions.  Every  monk  whom  we 
met  wore  a  sombre  aspect,  and  passed  us  without  a  saluta- 
tion. Antonio  was  told  by  one  and  another,  that  we  were 
of  the  same  school  with  the  missionaries  at  Shoosha,  who 
had  come  into  these  parts  to  convert  the  Armenians,  and 
that  he  did  wrong  to  connect  himself  with  us,  being  thus 
in  danger  of  imbibing  our  sentiments.  In  fact,  non-inter- 
course seemed  to  be  determined  upon.  Our  food  was  sent 
to  our  room  by  a  servant,  and  no  vartabed  called  on  us. 
The  catholicos  did  not  invite  us  to  wait  upon  him ;  of  his 
secretary  we  heard  nothing ;  and  repeated  overtures  on  our 


96  CHURCH    OF    THE    CONVENT. 

part  to  obtain  interviews  with  them  and  with  others,  were 
under  various  pretences  frustrated. 

The  time  of  our  visit  to  Echmiadzin  was,  in  one  re- 
spect, peculiarly  fortunate,  for  we  were  there  during  some 
of  its  most  splendid  ceremonies.     The  governor,  himself 
an  Armenian  holding  the  rank  of  prince  and  a  general,  ar- 
rived as  was  expected  on  Friday  evening,  in  company  with 
his  lady ;  and  on  Saturday  morning  a  mass  was  celebrated 
with  great  pomp  for  him  to   attend.     The   church  itself 
added  to  the  imposing  ceremony,  by  its  venerable  structure. 
The  main  body  of  it,  substantially  built  of  hewn  stone  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  is  surmounted  by  a  dome  in  the  best 
style  of  the  cylindro-conical  order  already  described.     Its 
belfry,  an  antique  tower  terminated  in  several  pyramidal 
turrets   and  loaded   with   bells,  rests  upon  massive  square 
columns,  which  form  the  porch  to  the  main  entrance  at 
the  western  extremity.     Within,  four  enormous  pillars  de- 
scending from  the  circumference  of  the  dome,  uphold  it 
with  all  the  lofty  vaults  which  support  the  roof.     Portraits 
of  saints,  and  sketches  of  scripture  and  legendary  events, 
cover  its  walls,  and  by  their  grotesque  design  and  clumsy 
execution,  contribute  to  deepen  the  impression  of  the  monk- 
ish scene.     One  venerable  father  stands  forth  in  perfect 
nudity,  except  that  a  monstrous  beard,  extending  to  the 
ground,  performs  one  of  the  most  necessary  uses  of  dress. 
Numerous  silver  lamps  and  a  few  glass  chandeliers  sus- 
pended  from   above,   were   on    this   occasion    all   lighted. 
More  than  half  of  the  floor  from  the  altar  to  the  porch  is 
enclosed  by  a  railing  for  the  special  use  of  the    clerical 
attendants,  and  was  covered  with  carpets,  some  of  which 
surpassed  description  in  elegance  and  richness.     The  prin- 
cipal altar  occupies  a  high  elevation  in  a  lofty  alcove,  or 
sanctuary,   at  the   eastern   extremity,  and  groaned  under 
massive  gold  crosses,  silver  candlesticks,  and  many  other 
not  less  costly  ornaments.     Two  sanctuaries  of  smaller  di- 


CEREMONY    OF    THE    MASS.  97 

mensions  are  furnished  with  altars  on  either  side  of  it,  and 
one  of  them  served  this  morning  for  a  sacristy.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  each  of  the  side  walls,  too,  is  another  sanctuary,  or 
chapel,  and  still  another  small  one  occupies  an  isolated 
position  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  directly  under  the  cen- 
tre of  the  dome.  The  latter  was  surrounded  by  curtains 
of  gold  cloth  of  different  patterns,  and  far  surpassed  every 
other  part,  in  the  exquisite  finish  and  superlative  richness 
of  its  furniture  and  ornaments.  It  is  probably  built  upon  the 
stone,  respecting  which  Chardin  reports  a  tradition  of  the 
Armenians,  that  it  covers  the  hole  where  Christ,  when  he 
appeared  to  Loosavorich,  thrust  down  to  hell  the  evil  spirits 
which  formerly  dwelt  in  the  idol  temples  of  Armenia.*  In 
a  word,  the  display  of  wealth  this  morning,  in  candle- 
sticks, crosses,  curtains,  carpets  and  dresses,  seemed  to 
me  not  surpassed  even  by  that  which  is  made  at  the  cele- 
bration of  high  mass  in  the  church  of  St.  John  at  Malta. 
The  protestant  Chardin  and  the  papal  Tournefort  unite 
in  testifying,  that  much  of  this  wealth  has  come  from  the 
pope  in  the  form  of  bribes  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Catholicos ;  and  now  remains  a  monument  of  the  credulity 
of  the  one,  and  the  deception  of  the  other.f 

The  dressing  of  the  officiating  bishop  was  the  first  im- 
portant part  of  the  mass,  and  a  distinct  prayer  or  medita- 
tion is  said  for  every  article  of  dress  put  on.  But  the  cer- 
emony being  private,  we  witnessed  only  the  chanting  which 
was  performed  at  the  same  time  in  the  church.  He  then 
entered  in  a  splendid  flowing  mantle  of  heavy  gold  cloth, 
with  a  broad  upright  collar  stiff  with  gold,  and  a  mitre  of 
the  same  rich  materials,  ornamented  in  front  and  behind 
with  a  sun  of  brilliants  set  in  gold.  Having  washed  his 
hands  before  all,  read  a  summary  confession  of  his  ^ins, 
and  received  absolution  pronounced  by  an  assistant,  he  re- 

*  Chardin,  vol.  1:  p.  175. 

t  Chardin,  vol.  2:  p.  173,    Tournefort,  vol,  2:  p.  333, 


98  CEREMONY    OF    THE    MASS. 

tired  again  to  the  sacristy  to  prepare  the  wine  and  the 
bread  for  consecration.  A  little  wine,  not  mixed  with  wa- 
ter as  in  the  Latin  church,  is  poured  into  a  chalice ;  and  a 
thin  cake  of  bread,  not  leavened  as  in  the  Greek  church, 
and  stamped  with  various  sacred  symbols  and  letters,  is  placed 
on  a  small  silver  plate  nicely  fitted  to  the  top  of  the  cup. 
Each  part  of  the  ceremony  has  its  appropriate  prayer  with 
the  burning  of  incense,  but  a  curtain,  drawn  before  the 
sacristy,  veiled  the  whole  from  our  view.  The  time  taken 
up  was  long,  and  during  it  the  congregation  were  enter- 
tained by  nothing  but  the  monotonous  chanting  of  a  large 
company  of  deacons  and  clerks. 

At  length  the  bishop,  leaving  the  elements  behind,  came 
forward  with  a  pompous  procession  and  the  burning  of  in- 
cense, and  proceeded  in  a  circuitous  course  through  the 
congregation  to  the  great  altar.  After  a  series  of  prayers, 
a  deacon  read  the  lesson  of  the  day  from  the  Gospel,  and 
the  Nicene  creed  ;*  and  then,  with  the  whole  body  of  as- 

*  Bishop  Dionysius  assures  me  that  the  Armenians  do  not  use  either  the 
Apostles'  or  the  Athanasian  creed  in  their  church  services.  The  following 
is  a  literal  translation  of  their  version  of  the  Nicene  creed. 

"  We  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth,  of  things  visible  and  invisible. 

"  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God;  of  God  the  Father,  i.  e, 
of  the  Father's  substance,  the  only  begotten ;  God  of  God;  Light  of  Light; 
very  God  of  very  God;  begotten,  not  created;  consubstantial  with  the  Fa- 
ther; by  whom  was  created  every  thing  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  visible  and 
invisible  ;  who  for  us  men,  and  for  our  salvation,  descending  from  heaven, 
became  incarnate,  was  made  man,  was  perfectly  born  of  the  holy  virgin 
Mary  by  the  Holy  Ghost;  whereby  he  received  body,  spirit  and  mind,  and 
whatever  is  in  man,  really  and  not  in  imagination.  He  suffered,  was  cru- 
cified, and  buried;  and  on  the  third  day  he  arose;  and  with  that  s  ame  body 
ascended  to  heaven,  and  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Father :  with  that 
same  body  and  the  Father's  glory,  he  shall  come  to  judge  both  the  quick  and 
the  dead ;  whose  kingdom  shall  have  no  end. 

"  And  we  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  uncreated,  the  perfect.  Who  spake 
in  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Gospels.  Who  descended  at  Jordan,  preach. 
ed  of  him  that  is  sent,  and  dwelt  in  the  saints.     And  we  believe  in  one  only 


CEREMONY    OF    THE    MASS.  99 

sistants,  went  for  the  elements.  They  were  brought,  care- 
fully veiled,  accompanied  by  several  pictures,  and  followed 
by  a  procession.  The  bishop,  whose  mitre  had  in  the 
mean  time  been  removed  by  an  assistant,  took  them,  and 
prayed ;  "  Accept  this  offering  from  us,  and  perfect  it  for 
the  mystery  of  the  body  and  blood  of  thine  only  begotten 
Son ;  grant  that  this  bread  and  this  cup  may  be  a  means  of 
the  remission  of  sin  to  those  who  taste."  The  congrega- 
tion being  in  the  mean  time  exhorted  to  salute  and  kiss  each 
other  for  the  appearance  of  Christ,  a  deacon,  taking  the 
salutation  from  the  bishop,  went  and  saluted  the  Catholicos, 
and  from  him  the  ceremony  passed  through  the  whole  con- 
gregation, each  one  bowing  this  way  and  that  over  the 
other's  shoulder,  as  if  to  kiss  him. 

The  consecration  followed.  In  performing  it  the  bishop 
blessed  the  bread  by  making  over  it  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
gave  thanks  by  looking  upward,  brake  it  by  picking  out  a 
crumb,  and  repeated  the  transubstantiating  words,  "  take, 
eat,  this  is  my  body,"  lifting  it  at  the  same  time  above  his 
head  for  the  congregation  to  worship,  instead  of  giving  it 
to  them  to  eat.  The  ceremony  for  the  wine  was  similar. 
The  whole  was  performed  privately,  with  the  back  of  the  offi- 
ciator  toward  the  congregation,  and  not  a  word  or  a  sign  in- 
tended for  them  to  hear  or  see,  except  the  elevation  of  the 
elements.  Prayers  for  the  efficacy  of  the  mass  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  communicants,  to  all  believers  whether  living 
or  dead,  and  especially  to  any  for  whom  a  particular  remem- 
brance had  been  requested,  followed.  Then  the  bishop, 
having  first  dipped  the  bread  in  the  wine,  took  it  between 
the  thumb  and  fore-finger  of  each  hand,  and,  holding  the 
cup  also   between  the  palms  of  his  hands,  turned  to  the 

Catholic  and  Apostolic  church:  In  one  baptism  for  repentance,  forgiveness 
and  remission  of  sins :  In  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  the  eternal  judg- 
ment to  soul  and  body:  In  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven;  and  the  life  everlast- 
ing."    See  Jaraakirk. 


100  CEREMONY    OF    THE    MASS. 

congregation,  and  cried  ;  "  Holy,  holy,  let  us  with  holiness 
taste  of  the  honored  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ,  which,  descending  from  heaven,  is  divided 
among  us.  This  is  life,  hope,  resurrection,  propitiation 
and  remission  of  sins."  Turning,  he  replaced  the  ele- 
ments upon  the  altar,  and  a  splendid  curtain,  large  Enough 
to  veil  the  whole  front  of  the  sanctuary  being  drawn,  pre- 
vented us  from  witnessing  what  followed,  except  the  chant- 
ing of  the  assistants  in  a  semicircle  before  the  altar.  But, 
according  to  the  canon,  he  had  first  to  break  the  bread  into 
four  parts,  and  kiss  it  with  weeping ;  and  then,  after  sun- 
dry prayers  and  supplications,  to  eat  the  bread  and  drink  the 
wine  with  fear  and  trembling ;  saying,  "  May  thy  incor- 
ruptible body  be  life  unto  me,  and  thy  holy  blood,  a  pro- 
pitiation and  remission  of  sins."  The  curtain  being  then 
withdrawn,  a  deacon  cried,  "  Approach  with  fear  and  faith, 
and  with  holiness  commune ; "  and  as  the  bishop  turned 
around  with  the  elements,  the  clerks  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
ple cried,  "  Our  God  and  our  Lord  has  appeared  unto  us, 
blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Eight 
or  ten  women  came  forward  and  communed  ;  and  bits  of 
unconsecrated  bread  were  distributed,  as  is  customary  also 
in  the  Greek  church,  among  the  rest  of  the  congregation , 
as  they  dispersed. 

The  ceremony  occupied  an  hour  and  forty  minutes. 
The  lesson  from  the  gospel  was  read  toward  the  congrega- 
tion, and  with  tolerable  distinctness,  though  in  a  chanting 
tone ;  and  it  was  gratifying  to  notice  the  marked  stillness, 
which,  as  is  always  the  case  during  this  part  of  the  service, 
prevailed  among  the  audience.  Now  and  then,  too,  a 
sentence  from  a  deacon  was  addressed  to  them,  and  the 
bishop  frequently  turned  round,  to  wave  a  little  silver  cross, 
and  cry,  "  peace  be  with  you."  But  most  of  the  prayers 
were  private,  and  said  in  an  inaudible  tone ;  and  the  oth- 
ers were  often  completely  drowned  by  the  chanting  of  a 


CEREMONY    OF    THE    MASS.  101 

company  of  some  twenty  or  thirty  clerks,  straining  their 
discordant  voices  to  the  highest  pitch.  To  complete  the 
confusion,  four  or  five  deacons  standing  on  the  right  side 
of  the  altar,  accompanied  the  most  important  parts  with  the 
gingling  of  a  quantity  of  small  silver  bells,  attached  to  the 
circumference  of  circular  plates  upon  the  end  of  long  sticks 
which  they  held  in  their  hands;  and  large  bells,  suspended 
in  the  dome,  repeatedly  added  their  deafening  intonations. 
Candles  were  lighted  and  extinguished  at  the  proper  mo- 
ment, and  the  use  of  the  censer,  both  at  the  altar  and 
among  the  audience,  was  liberal.  The  whole  bore  no 
slight  resemblance  to  a  theatrical  pantomime,  and  was  evi- 
dently calculated,  not  to  be  united  in  as  a  devotional  ser- 
vice, but  to  be  gazed  at  and  worshiped.  In  fact  during 
every  part,  the  more  devout  of  the  assembly  frequently 
prostrated  themselves  and  kissed  the  ground,  with  many 
signs  of  the  cross ;  and  when  the  elements  were  formally 
held  up  before  them  after  the  consecration,  the  most  pro- 
found and  idolatrous  adoration  was  exhibited  by  nearly 
all ;  some  with  their  foreheads  to  the  ground,  and  others 
kneeling  with  their  hands  suppliantly  extended,  their  eyes 
directed  to  the  adored  object,  and  their  countenances  mark- 
ed with  an  aspect  of  most  earnest  entreaty.  It  seemed,  in 
a  word,  more  objectionable  in  every  feature  than  any  papal 
mass  I  ever  witnessed. — After  remaining  some  time  unno- 
ticed among  the  crowd,  we  were  invited  within  the  railing 
among  the  vartabcds  and  the  general's  suite,  and  a  varta- 
bed  directed  Antonio  to  ask  me,  (Mr.  Dwight  being  else- 
where engaged,)  to  come  and  kiss  the  cross.  He  consider- 
ed himself  clothed  with  sufficient  discretionary  power,  how- 
ever, to  give  my  refusal,  and  I  was  not  troubled  with  the 
request. 

With  such  pompous  ceremonies  does  the  Armenian 
church  turn  into  a  solemn  farce,  the  celebration  of  that 
simple  ordinance,   at  the  institution  of  which,  "  the  Lord 

VOL.  II.  10 


102  DOCTRINE    OF    THE    MASS. 

Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  took 
bread ;  and,  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it  and 
said,  take,  eat,  this  is  my  body  which  is  broken  for  you, 
this  do  in  remembrance  of  me ;  and  after  the  same  manner 
also  the  cup  when  he  had  supped,  saying,  this  cup  is  the 
new  testament  in  my  blood,  this  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in 
remembrance  of  me."  Nor  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
respecting  its  nature  and  object  less  erroneous.  It  be- 
lieves, as  fully  as  does  the  papal  church,  in  the  transubstan- 
tiation  of  the  bread  and  wine  into  the  real  body  and  blood 
of  Christ ;  and  not  only  so,  but  with  that  church  it  also 
believes,  that  the  human  soul  and  the  divinity  of  our  Lord, 
as  well  as  his  body,  are  present  in  the  elements.  Thus, 
instead  of  being  regarded  as  a  simple  memento  of  the  ato- 
ning death  of  our  Savior,  this  sacrament  is  converted, 
contrary  to  every  evidence  of  the  senses  and  of  reason,  into 
a  renewal  of  that  death  itself,  and  considered  an  actual 
propitiatory  sacrifice  of  Christ  for  the  living  and  the  dead ! 
Let  the  following  extract  from  a  prayer  which  follows  the 
consecration,  testify  to  the  extent  of  the  efficacy  that  is 
ascribed  to  it.  "  May  this  [the  elements  of  the  mass]  be 
for  justification,  propitiation,  and  remission  of  sins  to  all  of 
us  who  draw  near.  Through  it,  grant  love,  stability,  and 
desired  peace  to  the  whole  world ;  to  the  holy  church,  and 
all  orthodox  bishops,  priests  and  deacons ;  to  kings,  the 
world,  princes  and  people ;  to  travellers  and  seamen ;  to 
those  who  are  bound,  in  danger  and  in  trouble ;  and  to 
those  who  are  fighting  with  barbarians.  Through  it,  also, 
grant  to  the  air  mildness,  to  the  fields  fertility,  and  to  them 
who  are  afflicted  with  diverse  diseases,  speedy  relief. 
Through  it,  give  rest  to  all  who  are  already  asleep  in 
Christ,  first  parents,  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs, 
bishops,  elders,  deacons,  and  all  the  members  of  the  holy 
church.     With  them  also  visit  us,  we  pray  thee,  O  thou 


COMMUNION.  103 

beneficent  God."*  Indeed,  in  the  language  already  quoted 
respecting  masses  for  the  dead,  '  that  which  Christ  offered, 
and  that  which  the  priests  offer,  is  regarded  as  the  same 
sacrifice.' 

How  directly  does  this  whole  theory  of  the  mass  stand 
in  the  face  of  the  apostle's  argument,  that  Christ,  unlike 
the  daily  sacrifices  of  the  Jewish  dispensation,  after  he  had 
offered  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  forever  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  !  (Heb.  10th  chap.)  By  it  the  gospel  is  sub- 
verted, and  the  '  weak  and  beggarly  elements '  of  the  old 
Jewish  system  of  sacrifices  are  revived.  The  real  death 
of  Christ  comes  to  be  practically  neglected,  or  regarded  as 
little  more  than  a  simple  antidote  to  original  sin,  and  th& 
forgiveness  of  actual  sin  is  expected  from  the  imagined  sac- 
rifice of  the  mass,  the  most  absurd  dogma  that  was  ever 
palmed  upon  human  credulity.  It  substitutes  a  priesthood 
to  offer  sacrifices,  for  a  ministry  to  feed  the  flock  of  God 
with  sound  doctrine  ;  it  converts  the  spiritual  worship  of 
God  into  the  formal  adoration  of  a  ceremony ;  it  leads  to 
idolatry.  In  a  word,  of  all  the  heresies,  absurdities  and 
abominations  of  the  papal  and  oriental  churches,  the  mass 
is  the  chief. 

From  this  perversion  of  the  design  of  the  sacrament  of 
the  supper,  and  the  consequent  idea  that  to  partake  of  the 
elements  is  not  essential  to  its  celebration,  the  neglect  of 
communion  has  naturally  followed.  Although,  in  parishes 
which  have  a  sufficient  number  of  priests,  mass  is  peformed 
almost  every  day,  it  is  customary  for  none  except  the  of- 
ficiators  to  communicate  more  than  twice  a  year,  the  occa- 
sions usually  selected  being  Christmas  and  Easter.  The 
limit  of  frequent  attendance  upon  communion,  is  seven 
times,  and  of  rare  attendance,  once  a  year.  Great  effica- 
cy, however,  is  ascribed  to  the  ceremony,  and  the  conse- 
crated elements  are  carried,  as  a  viaticum,  to  the  bedside 

*  See  the  Armenian  Missal,  called  Khorhurtadedr, 


104  COMMUNION. 

of  the  dying,  with  the  idea  that  to  partake  of  them  is  es- 
sential to  the  future  happiness  of  the  soul.  The  commu- 
nicants this  morning  stood  up  before  the  altar,  and  the 
bishop  put  a  bit  of  the  bread,  which  had  been  previously 
dipped  in  the  wine,  into  the  mouth  of  each.  In  this  way 
only  do  the  Armenians  communicate  in  both  kinds.  The 
wine  they  never  drink.  One  of  the  women  had  a  child 
not  more  than  a  year  old  in  her  arms,  and  that  also  com- 
municated; for  infants,  from  the  moment  of  baptism,  are 
admissible  to  the  table  of  the  Lord. 

The  Armenian,  like  the  papal  and  the  Greek  churches,, 
practises  close  communion.  It  is  indeed  inconsistent  with 
its  admission  of  the  possibility  of  salvation  out  of  the  church  ;. 
and  the  inconsistency  seemed  to  be  felt  by  more  than  one 
intelligent  ecclesiastic  with  whom  we  conversed.  One  con- 
tended that  it  was  the  duty  of  priests  to  admit  members  of 
other  sects,  without  first  confessing  them ;  and  affirmed 
that  Russians,  as  they  spoke  only  a  foreign  language,  had 
been  thus  admitted  in  his  convent,  upon  their  declaring 
simply  that  they  had  already  confessed.  Another  declared, 
that  Armenians  were  allowed  to  commune  with  other  sects, 
when  in  parts  of  the  world  where  no  Armenian  church  is 
found ;  and  that  foreigners  are  admissible  to  the  Armenian 
communion  upon  their  confessing  and  making  a  profession 
of  their  faith.  This,  however,  is  conceding  nothing,  for 
the  act  of  confessing  to  an  Armenian  priest,  is  equivalent 
to  becoming  a  member  of  that  church,  and  it  would  be  a 
strange  sect  that  should  refuse  to  admit  proselytes.  Should 
an  Armenian  in  ordinary  circumstances  receive  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  supper  from  the  hands  of  a  protestant,  or  a 
minister  of  any  other  sect,  he  would  be  considered  as  cut 
off,  by  that  act,  from  his  church,  and  not  admissible  again 
to  her  bosom,  without  confessing  his  sin,  and  doing  penance 
for  it. 

Confession  is  an  indispensable  preparation  for  the  com- 


CONFESSION*.  105 

munion,  and  is  now  practised  only  immediately  before  it. 
The  women  who  communicated  this  morning,  had  all  con- 
fessed, during  the  first  part  of  the  mass,  to  a  vartabed  in 
the  western  end  of  the  church.  He  had  no  confessional, 
nor  have  we  seen  one  in  any  Armenian  church.  Seated 
on  the  floor  a  la  Turque,  he  caused  each  one  successively  to 
kneel  by  his  side,  with  her  head  in  his  lap ;  and  then,  put- 
ting his  hand  upon  her  head,4  listened  to  her  confession. 
In  another  instance,  we  have  seen  a  confessor,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  company,  reclining  upon  his  arm,  with  the  woman 
he  was  confessing  kneeling  by  his  side,  her  head  being 
upon  his  bosom,  and  his  arm  upon  her  person.  The  sub- 
stance of  the  confession  is  more  objectionable  than  the  po- 
sition of  the  parties.  A  prescribed  form,  the  same  that 
follows  the  creed  already  quoted,  at  the  commencement  of 
morning  prayers  in  the  church,  is  in  every  case  repeated 
memoriter,  or  from  the  mouth  of  the  confessor.  A  regard 
to  decency  forbids  its  publication  entire.  With  a  few  ex- 
pressions omitted,  and  the  indelicacy  of  others  somewhat 
modified  in  giving  it  an  English  dress,  it  is  as  follows. 

"  I  have  sinned  against  the  most  holy  Trinity,  the  Fa- 
ther, the  Son,  aud  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  I  confess  before 
God,  and  the  holy  mother  of  God,  and  before  thee,  holy 
father,  all  the  sins  I  have  committed.  For  I  have  sinned 
in  thought,  in  word,  and  in  deed ;  voluntarily,  and  involun- 
tarily ;  knowingly,  and  ignorantly.  I  have  sinned  against 
God. — I  have  sinned  with  my  spirit  and  its  faculties;  with 
my  mind  and  its  acts;  with  my  body  and  its  senses.  I 
have  sinned  with  the  faculties  of  my  spirit :  by  cunning, 
and  by  folly  ;  by  audacity,  and  by  cowardice ;  by  prodi- 
gality, and  by  avarice;  by  dissipation,  and  by  injustice; 
by  love  of  evil,  by  desperation,  and  by  mistrust.  I  have 
sinned  against  God. — I  have  sinned  with  the  evil  devices 
of  my  mind :  by  artifice,  by  malice,  by  vindictiveness, 
by  envy,  by  jealousy,  by  dissoluteness,  by  unchaste  propen- 
VOL.  II.  10* 


406  CONFESSION. 

sities,  *****  and  by  abominable  filthiness  of  imagination. 
I  have  sinned  against  God. — I  have  sinned  with  the  lusts 
of  my  body :  by  sensuality,  by  sloth,  by  the  yawning  of 
sleep ;  by  the  acts  of  the  body,  and  by  the  commission  of 
divers  kinds  of  impurity ;  by  the  licentious  hearing  of  my 
ears,  by  the  shamelessness  of  my  eyes,  by  the  lusts  of  my 
heart,  ***  by  the  lasciviousness  of  my  mouth,  by  inconti- 
nence, by  gluttony,  and  by  drunkenness.  I  have  sinned 
against  God. — I  have  sinned  with  the  evil  speaking  of  my 
tongue ;  by  lying,  by  false  swearing,  by  perjury,  by  conten- 
tiousness, by  disputing,  by  defamation,  by  flattery?  by  tale- 
bearing, by  idleness,  by  mockery,  by  vain  conversation,  by 
talking  heresy,  by  cursing,  murmuring,  complaining,  back- 
biting, and  blaspheming.  I  have  sinned  against  God. — I 
have  sinned  with  every  joint  of  my  frame,  and  every  mem- 
ber of  my  body :  with  my  seven  senses,  and  my  six  opera- 
tions; by  kicking  upward,  by  dangling  downward,  by 
straying  to  the  right,  and  to  the  left,  by  sinning  against 
what  is  before,  and  being  a  bad  example  to  what  is  behind. 
I  have  sinned  against  God. — I  have  also  sinned  by  [com- 
mitting] the  seven  transgressions,  the  mortal  sins :  by 
pride  and  its  varieties ;  by  envy  and  its  varieties ;  by  anger 
and  its  varieties ;  by  sloth  and  its  varieties;  by  covetousness 
and  its  varieties;  by  gluttony  and  its  varieties  ;  by  lascivi- 
ousness and  its  varieties.  I  have  also  sinned  against  all 
the  commands  of  God,  both  the  positive  and  the  negative ; 
for  I  have  neither  done  what  is  commanded,  nor  abstained 
from  what  is  forbidden.  I  have  received  the  law,  and 
have  come  short  of  it.  I  have  been  invited  to  the  rights  of 
Christianity,  and  by  my  conduct  have  been  found  unwor- 
thy; knowing  the  evil,  I  have  voluntarily  debased  myself, 
and  of  myself  have  departed  from  good  works.  Ah  me ! 
ah  me !  ah  me !  which  shall  I  tell  ?  or  which  shall  I  con- 
fess? For  my  transgressions  cannot  be  numbered,  my  in- 
iquities   cannot   be   told;  my  pains   are   irremissible,   my 


CONFESSION.  107 

wounds  are  incurable.  I  have  sinned  against  God. — Holy- 
father,  I  have  thee  for  an  intercessor,  and  a  mediator  of 
reconciliation  with  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  ;  that  by 
the  power  given  unto  thee  thou  would  est  loose  me  from  the 
bonds  of  my  sins,  thee  I  supplicate."  * 

Such  are  the  sins  that  every  Armenian,  male  and  female, 
young  and  old,  acknowledges  in  the  ear  of  his  priest  at  con- 
fession, and  hears  confessed  for  him  every  morning  that  he 
attends  church  :  sins,  some  of  which  would  otherwise  hard- 
ly ^enter  the  imagination,  but  which  being  thus  suggested, 
doubtless  soon  become  so  familiar  that  the  acknowledge- 
ment of  them  is*  no  longer  a  falsehood.  The  document  is 
the  nation's  own  confession  of  its  immoralities  ;  and,  either 
as  causes  which  occasioned  it  to  be  drawn  up,  or  as  effects 
resulting  from  its  frequent  rehearsal,  the  supposition  is  but 
reasonable,  that  those  immoralities  exist.  The  fact,  how- 
ever, that  a  large  part  of  it  is  veiled  by  a  dead  language  in 
an  obscurity  impenetrable  to  the  common  people,  hides 
some  of  the  darkest  shades  of  the  picture.! 

*  Jamakirk,  p.  6. 

t  Since  the  above  was  written,  a  papal  friend  has  referred  me  to  the  Ta- 
ble of  Sins  inserted  in  the  common  prayer-books  of  his  church,  to  aid  the 
penitent  in  his  preparation  for  confession,  by  suggesting  to  him  what  sins  he 
needs  to  confess.  Perhaps  this  Armenian  form  of  confession  was  originally 
intended  only  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  had  a  similar  shape. — If  any  reader 
is  disgusted,  that  such  an  offensive  document  should  be  raked  up  from  the  dead 
language  of  Armenia,  to  be  set  before  him  in  this  enlightened  land;  it  may  be 
well  for  him  to  know,  that  one  similarly  offensive  is  in  the  hands  of  every  de- 
tout  papist  among  us,  and  may  be  found  in  the  Roman  Catholic  book-store 
in  Boston,  and  in  similar  places  in  our  other  cities.  If  he  can  do  it  with  a 
pure  heart,  let  him  read  the  Table  of  Sins  and  the  other  directions  for  con- 
fession, in  the  Christian's  Guide  to  Heaven,  the  Key  of  Paradise,  and  other 
popular  Roman  Catholic  prayer-books;  and  reflect  upon  the  corrupting  ten- 
dency of  auricular  confession ;  especially  when  that  confession  is  made  by 
youth  of  either  sex  to  an  unmarried  clergy.  Particularly  let  every  protes- 
tant  parent  do  this,  before  putting  his  children  into  the  hands  of  papists  to  be 
educated. 


108  CONFESSION. 

Even  after  the  rehearsal  of  such  a  long  catalogue  of 
crimes,  an  extemporaneous  confession  of  the  particular  sins 
that  burden  the  conscience,  is  generally  demanded  by  the 
confessor.  In  the  cases  that  we  witnessed  this  morning, 
however,  no  such  demand  was  made ;  and  the  vartabed 
pronounced  the  absolution  upon  each  woman,  as  she 
finished  repeating  from  his  mouth  what  I  have  quoted 
above.  The  form  of  absolution  is  as  follows.  "  May  a 
compassionate  God  have  mercy  upon  thee.  May  he  par- 
don all  thy  confessed  and  forgotten  sins.  And  I,  by  right 
of  my  priestly  authority,  and  the  divine  command,  '  What- 
soever ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  ; '  by 
that  same  word,  do  absolve  thee  from  all  connection  with 
thy  sins,  of  thought,  of  word,  and  of  deed ;  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I 
admit  thee  again  to  the  sacraments  of  the  holy  church ;  and 
whatever  good  thou  shalt  do,  may  it  be  to  thee  for  a  good 
work,  and  in  the  future  life  for  glory.  Amen.*"  In  these 
few  words  lies  the  whole  secret  of  priestly  power.  Were 
they  blotted  out  from  the  ritual  of  the  church,  the  priest- 
hood, like  Samson  shorn  of  his  locks,  would  become  weak, 
and  be  like  any  other  men.  The  pretended  power  of  loos- 
ing men  from  their  sins,  gives  them  the  real  power  of  bind- 
ing upon  their  shoulders  '  heavy  burdens,  and  grievous  to  be 
borne.'  It  is  firmly  believed  by  the  people  generally,  that 
when  the  priest  pronounces  this  absolution,  their  sins  are 
really  forgiven.  Satisfaction,  the  last  of  the  three  parts 
into  which  the  doctors  of  Rome  have  divided  the  sacrament 
of  penance,t  and  of  which  confession  is  the  second,  is  also 
acknowledged  and  practised  by  the  Armenian  church,  and 
will  come  under  consideration  hereafter.     The  first  part,  or 

*  Jamakirk,  p.  9. 

f  See  that  very  valuable  compendium  of  the  doctrines  of  papacy,  the  Text- 
Book  of  Popery.    By  J.  M.  Cramp,  p.  184—205. 


PILGRIMAGES.  109 

contrition  of  heart  for  sin,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  rarely  consid- 
ered essential,  and  still  more  rarely  felt. 

The  Armenians  have  uniformly  declared,  in  answer  to 
our  inquiries,  that  in  their  church  money  is  never  paid  at 
confession.  And  yet,  each  of  these  women  did  certainly, 
before  our  eyes,  put  a  piece  of  money  into  the  hand  of  the 
vartabed,  either  immediately  before  or  after  the  absolution. 
The  reason  of  it  was,  perhaps,  that  they  were  pilgrims,  and 
the  communion  being  the  finishing  act  of  their  pilgrimage, 
they  took  this  occasion  to  pay  to  the  convent  the  contribu- 
tion always  expected  from  such  visitors.  Pilgrimages  are 
in  high  repute  among  the  Armenians,  as  a  species  of  good 
works.  The  most  meritorious  are  made  to  Jerusalem,  to 
the  convent  of  Soorp  HovJiannes  Garabed  (St.  John  the 
Forerunner)  near  Moosh,  and  to  Echmiadzin.  He  who  has 
acquired  the  title  of  mukdesy  by  visiting  the  former  place, 
stands  in  the  estimation  of  his  countrymen  far  above  the 
common  standard  of  sanctity.  These  great  pilgrimages, 
however,  are  not  so  common  as  formerly.  Still,  almost 
every  convent,  or  other  place,  where  a  saint  has  died  or  his 
relics  are  preserved,  is  visited  more  or  less  frequently  for 
this  superstitious  purpose. 

Having  brought  a  letter  from  an  Armenian  friend  at 
Smyrna  to  one  of  the  oldest  bishops  of  the  convent,  we 
caused  it  to  be  presented  to  him  on  the  afternoon  of  Satur- 
day. It  procured  us  an  invitation  to  call  on  him,  and  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  accommodations  of  the  highest 
members  of  the  convent.  He  was  sitting  with  the  librarian 
and  the  bishop  of  Erivan,  in  a  spacious  and  airy  chamber, 
furnished  with  every  thing  that  oriental  custom  considers 
necessary  to  comfort.  A  broad  and  well  covered  Turkish 
sofa  occupied  two  sides  of  the  room,  a  good  carpet  covered 
the  floor,  and  a  series  of  shelves  above  were  ornamen- 
ted with  the  various  rich  fruits  of  the  country  for  the 
gratification  of  the  eye  as  well  as  the  taste.    Servants  await* 


110  ACCOMMODATIONS    OF    THE   VARTABEDS. 

ed  his  commands  in  an  anti-chamber,  and  brought  us  the 
temperate  refreshments  usually  offered  to  a  visitor  in 
Turkey.  Every  thing  had  an  air  of  ease,  if  not  of  luxury, 
little  corresponding  with  the  ideas  usually  entertained  of 
the  cell  of  a  monk,  and  confirming  what  we  in  other 
ways  learned,  that  the  leading  inmates  of  this  establish- 
ment practise  few  of  the  self-denials  for  which  their  profes- 
sion is  reputed.  His  reception  of  us  was  friendly,  and  his 
answers  to  our  questions  unreserved.  The  information  we 
derived  from  him,  for  the  sake  of  better  arrangement,  is 
given  elsewhere. 


LETTER    XVI. 

ECHMIADZIN. 

Festival  of  the  Catholicos — His  sacrifice — Origin  of  his  title  and  see — His 
election — The  present  Catholicos — His  duties  and  sources  of  income — Or- 
dination of  bishops — The  meiron — The  Novirag — Power  of  the  Catholi- 
cos— Interview  with  the  vartabeds — Essential  articles  of  faith — Conditions 
of  salvation — Mode  of  baptism — Confirmation — Extreme  unction — Con- 
versation upon  our  own  religious  rites — Commencement  of  the  Armenian 
Sabbath — Ideas  of  missions — Library  of  the  convent — Character  of  the 
secretary  of  the  Catholicos — Return  to  Nahkchevan. 

Dear  Sir, 

On  leaving  the  room  of  the  bishop,  mentioned  at  the 
close  of  my  last  letter,  we  found  the  monks,  in  their  gayest 
clerical  robes,  paraded  in  double  file  along  the  pavement, 
which  leads  to  the  church  door  from  the  entry  to  the  apart- 
ments of  the  Catholicos.  It  appeared,  on  inquiry,  that 
to-morrow  was  to  be  the  twentieth  anniversary  festival  of  his 
inauguration,  and  that  they  were  now  about  to  conduct 
him  in  pomp  to  evening  prayers,  as  the  commencement  of 
the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion.  He  soon  came  forward 
tottering  with  the  decrepitude  of  age,  and,  leaning  upon 
the  arms  of  attendants,  was  led  through  their  ranks.  A 
gold  cross  only  upon  his  cowl,  and  a  staff,  his  badge  of 
office,  in  his  hand,  distinguished  him  from  rest.  Two 
attendants  held  a  broad  canopy  of  crimson  over  his  head, 
and  two  or  three  deacons,  going  backward  before  him, 
perfumed  him  continually  with  incense.  It  was  the  pope 
of  Armenia  in  festal  show.  The  mass  on  Sabbath  morn- 
ing, which  constituted  the  essential  part  of  the  festival,  was 


112  FESTIVAL    OF    THE    CATHOLICOS. 

in  some  respects  more  pompous  than  the  one  already  de- 
scribed, and  the  dresses  used  being  different,  it  served  to 
exhibit  more  fully  the  wealth  of  the  establishment.  The 
Catholicos  acted  no  part  in  it,  but  to  go  to  the  altar  to  re- 
ceive the  blessing,  and  to  kiss  the  gospel.  A  rich  cross  of 
jewels,  however,  upon  one  of  its  covers,  actually  received  the 
salutation ;  and  thus,  in  this  ceremony,  as  it  has  done  in  most 
of  the  observances  of  the  church,  it  robbed  the  word  of 
God  of  its  honors.  The  same  device  is  generally  observable 
in  the  copies  of  the  gospel  that  are  used  in  other  churches. 
We  now  stood  near  enough  to  the  officiating  bishop,  to  ob- 
serve also  another  curious  device.  The  missal  from  which 
he  read  the  prayers,  was  placed  a  little  on  one  side,  and 
directly  before  him  upon  the  altar,  was  a  small  richly  orna- 
mented picture  of  the  virgin,  with  the  infant  Jesus  in  her 
arms,  so  that  all  his  prayers  were  said  as  if  addressed  to 
that. 

I  have  neglected  to  mention,  that  we  presented  our  letter 
to  the  general,  prince  Bebutoff,  on  Saturday,  and  were  re- 
ceived by  him  with  marked  civility.  We  expected  that 
the  circumstance  would  somewhat  improve  the  vartabeds' 
treatment  of  us ;  but  were  still  a  little  surprised,  on  coming 
from  the  church  to-day,  to  be  invited  by  the  master  of  cer- 
emonies into  t1  »  apartments  of  the  Catholicos,  as  we  un- 
derstood, to  have  1  interview  with  him.  The  object,  how- 
ever, was  different.  On  a  broad  pavement  in  his  garden, 
by  the  side  of  a  salient  fountain,  was  a  long  line  of  tables, 
loaded  with  a  cold  collation  of  meats,  pastries  and  confec- 
tionaries.  One  was  placed  at  the  head  for  the  Catholicos, 
but  he  was  absent.  By  the  rest  stood  a  crowd  of  vartabeds 
and  numerous  guests;  and  in  the  garden  around,  was 
paraded  a  line  of  peasants,  armed  with  muskets.  As  we 
entered,  a  vartabed,  seizing  us  by  the  arm,  led  us  to  the 
table  next  that  of  the  Catholicos,  where  stood  the  general 
and  his  lady.     They  welcomed  us  politely,  and  informed  us 


SACRIFICE    OF    THE    CATHOLICOS.  113 

that  this  was  the  sacrifice  of  the  Catholicos,  who  was  him- 
self too  feeble  to  be  present. 

A  long  prayer  was  now  read  by  a  vartabed,  and  con- 
cluded by  a  toast,  which  was  drunk  with  brandy,  and  ac- 
companied by  a  salute  from  the  guns  of  the  peasants. 
Hardly  considering  ourselves  forbidden  by  apostolic  author- 
ity to  partake,  though  the  general  had  intimated  that  it  was 
offered  in  sacrifice ;  we  seriously  set  about  eating  of  the 
good  things  before  us,  asking  no  questions.  But  as  the 
prince  and  ourselves  were  settling  the  etiquette  of  priority  in 
inserting  the  knife  and  fork,  a  vartabed  invited  us,  for  bet- 
ter fare,  to  retire  with  himself  and  his  companions ;  and,  on 
looking  about,  we  found  that  every  morsel  had  mysterious- 
ly disappeared  from  the  other  tables.  Following  the  crowd, 
we  entered  a  long  and  gloomy  arched  hall,  the  grand  refec- 
tory of  the  monks.  Two  stone  tables  extended  its  whole 
length,  at  which  we  seated  ourselves,  in  company  with 
more  than  thirty  in  the  garb  of  vartabeds,  and  perhaps 
double  the  number  of  lay  guests.  But  not  a  morsel  of  food, 
nor  a  dish,  was  upon  them ;  and  as  each  of  our  neighbors 
unrolled  from  his  handkerchief  his  gleanings  of  the  cold 
collation,  we  began  to  fear  lest,  not  having  made  such 
provision  ourselves,  we  should  fare  but  badly. 

Plain  but  substantial  dishes  of  meat  and  pilavs,  followed 
by  a  variety  of  confectionaries,  were  soon  served  up,  to  the 
abundant  satisfaction  of  our  hunger ;  and  a  vartabed,  con- 
tinually passing  to  and  fro  between  the  tables,  with  a  jar 
of  wine,  occasioned  a  flow  of  mirth  from  some  of  our  fellow- 
guests,  which  proved  that  the  kindred  appetite  had  no  rea- 
son to  complain.  The  dessert  was  addressed  solely  to 
another  sense,  usually  not  so  exclusively  provided  for  upon 
similar  occasions.  It  was  a  single  apple,  which  each 
smelled  of,  and  then  passed  to  his  neighbor.  The  mind 
was  also  fed  during  the  repast,  by  a  long  story  about  Ech- 
miadzin, read  by  a  monk  from  a  sort  of  orchestra  above  us. 

VOL.  II.  11 


114  ORIGIN    OF   THE    TITLE    CATHOLlCOg. 

A  still  longer  oration  followed,  pronounced  from  a  manu- 
script by  the  vartabed  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  con- 
taining, we  imagined  from  its  length  and  the  names  that 
occurred,  a  relation  of  events  in  general,  from  Adam  to 
prince  BebutofF.  A  toast,  followed  by  the  blessing,  finished 
the  ceremonies.  The  peasants  who  filled  the  court  without, 
accompanied  the  toast  with  a  straggling  salute  of  musketry  ; 
and  a  band  of  strolling  musicians  added  their  discordant 
notes,  to  complete  the  deafening  confusion. — Such  was 
the  Sabbath  we  spent  at  Echmiadzin,  the  residence  of  the 
head  of  the  Armenian  church,  and  esteemed  the  most  holy 
spot  in  the  country !  and  such  the  profanation  of  that  sacred 
day,  not  committed  by  uncontrollable  contemners  of  relig- 
ious order,  but  directed  as  an  appendage  to  a  religious  cer- 
emony, by  the  highest  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  of  the  na- 
tion !  We  had  already  observed  in  the  morning,  that  five 
or  six  of  the  shops  in  the  bazar  of  the  convent,  were  open 
for  the  sale  of  goods. 

The  term  Catholicos  occurs  early  in  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, as  the  title  of  an  office  in  the  church,  and  was  origin- 
ally a  mere  Greek  adjective,  connected  with  the  word  epis- 
copos,  to  designate  a  bishop  who  presided  over  a  whole  re- 
gion. For,  while  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and  Anti- 
och,  and  the  primates  of  Ephesus,  Heraclea  and  Cesarea, 
presided  over  the  five  dioceses  of  Egypt,  the  East,  Asia, 
Thrace,  and  Pontus,  into  which  the  eastern  Roman  empire 
was  divided  by  Constantine  the  Great,  we  find  likewise 
catholicoses  at  the  head  of  different  sections  of  the  church, 
without  the  limits  of  the  empire.  The  metropolitan  of  Per- 
sia, and  the  archbishop  of  Seleucia,  first  bore  the  title,  ac- 
knowledging still  their  dependence  upon  the  see  of  Antioch. 
And  in  imitation  of  them,  probably,  the  head  of  the  Ar- 
menian and  Georgian  churches  afterward  assumed  it.* 
Armenian  tradition  pretends  that  St.  Gregory,  in  a  personal 

*  Assemani  Bibliotheca  Orientalis,  Tom.  4:  p.  615. 


ELECTION    OF    THE    CATHOLICOS.  115 

visit  to  Silvester,  bishop  of  Rome,  was  consecrated  by  him 
Catholicos,  with  the  express  privilege  that  his  successors 
might  be  consecrated  by  their  own  bishops;*  though  it  con- 
cedes that  that  ceremony  was,  until  A.  D.  366,  actually 
performed  by  the  primates  of  Cesarea,  of  whose  diocese 
Armenia  was  still  an  appendage.  Then,  Nerses  the  Great 
was  declared  by  the  king,  nobles,  and  bishops,  sovereign 
Catholicos  of  the  nation,  and  his  successors  have  never 
since  been  dependent  upon  any  foreign  dignitary  for  their 
consecration  or  their  power. t  For  that  blundering  inver- 
sion of  the  relative  rank  of  ecclesiastical  titles,  which  has 
created  patriarchs  inferior  to  a  Catholicos,  who  was  himself 
once  dependent  upon  only  a  primate,  the  church  is  indebt- 
ed to  moslem  ignorance  or  heedlessness. 

No  laws  of  election,  or  of  succession  to  the  office,  for  a 
long  time  existed ;  and  acknowledged  merit  or  successful 
intrigue,  influencing  the  rulers,  nobles,  or  clergy,  (as  each 
or  all  wished  or  were  able  to  interfere,)  to  an  informal 
expression  of  public  approbation,  seems  alone  to  have 
determined  the  choice.  To  its  validity,  also,  the  approba- 
tion of  the  foreign  sovereign  to  whom  the  nation  happened 
at  the  time  to  be  subject,  was  necessary  from  the  begin- 
ning ;  and  in  return  for  this  approbation,  an  annual  tribute 
was,  as  early  as  A.  D.  1058,  demanded  by  the  Greek  empe- 
ror.J  But,  on  the  occasion  of  the  secession  of  the  bishop 
of  Aghtamar,  it  was  determined  in  a  formal  council,  that 
thenceforward  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  four  great  sees 
of  Puchni,  Haghpad,  Tuteos  Arakeal  and  Datev,  should  be 
necessary  to  the  election  of  a  Catholicos  ;§  and  we  were 
informed  on  the  spot,  that  the  same  sees  are  still  represent- 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  15.      f  Ibid.  P.  3:  c.  18.     $  Ibid.  P.  5:  c.  15. 

§  Ibid.  P.  6:  c.  4. — Puchni  is  still  a  considerable  convent  a  few  hours 
from  Erivan,  on  the  direct  road  to  Tiflis  by  the  Red  Bridge.  (See  Char- 
din,  vol.  1:  p.  159.  And  Tournefort,  vol.  2:  p.  330.)  The  others  have 
been  already  mentioned. 


116 


THE    PRESENT    CATHOLICOS. 


ed  in  an  assembly  of  twelve  bishops,  by  whom  the  choice 
is  now  made,  the  remaining  eight  being  members  of  the 
convent.  The  necessity,  however,  of  the  approbation  of  a 
foreign  sovereign,  which  intrigue  and  money  could  at  any 
time  obtain,  or  cause  to  be  withheld,  has  often  made  the 
law  a  dead  letter,  and  thrown  the  decision  into  the  hands  of 
one  aspiring  individual,  or  of  a  few  quarrelsome  monks. 
In  fact,  after  the  revival  of  the  modern  kingdom  of  Persia 
under  the  Sofies,  Echmiadzin  became  as  complete  a  prey 
to  ambitious  dissensions  and  barefaced  bribery,  as  did  the 
patriarchate  of  Constantinople  under  the  Osmanlies;  sever- 
al pretended  to  the  office  of  Catholicos  at  the  same  time, 
and  the  convent  was  loaded  with  immense  debts. 

The  present  Catholicos,  Ephraim,  wisely  sought  security 
from  these  evils  before  accepting  the  office.  The  sum  of 
about  £400  sterling,  was  stipulated  as  the  unalterable 
amount  of  the  annual  tribute  to  the  Shah;  and,  being 
bishop  of  a  Russian  diocese  at  the  time  of  his  election,  he 
naturally  sought  the  protection  of  the  emperor.  It  was 
readily  granted  by  Alexander  in  a  personal  audience,  and 
the  new  Catholicos  entered  upon  his  functions,  decorated 
with  the  insignia  of  grand  cross  of  the  order  of  St.  Catha- 
rine, and  clothed  in  embroidered  pontifical  robes,  the 
fruits  of  imperial  munificence.*  The  protection  thus  for- 
mally promised,  was,  in  an  hour  of  need,  not  refused. 
Finding  himself  exposed  to  lawless  depredations  during  the 
war  between  Turkey  and  Persia,  in  1S22,  he  succeeded  in 
escaping  into  the  Russian  territories,  where  he  was  honora- 
bly received,  and  resided,  principally  in  the  convent  of 
Haghpad,  until  the  late  peace  with  Persia  placed  Echmiadzin 
permanently  under  the  Russian  government.  He  was  con- 
secrated in  1810,  and  is  now  eighty-one  years  old,  and  near- 
ly deaf  and  blind.  Mr.  Zaremba,  in  his  late  visit,  had  two 
gratifying  interviews  with  him,  and  found   him   thankful 

*  Aydall's  translation  of  Chamchean,  vol.  2:  p.  519. 


DUTIES    OF    THE    CATHOLICOS.  117 

for  what  the  missionaries  has  done  for  his  nation,  and 
grieved  even  to  tears  that  he  had  not  now  such  bishops  as 
formerly  for  his  coadjutors.  He  has,  in  fact,  always  been 
reputed  for  mildness  and  tolerance,  which  increased  our 
regret  at  being  denied  the  opportunity  of  a  personal  inter- 
view. His  infirmities  were  aggravated,  by  the  fatigues  of 
the  festival,  into  a  distressing  illness,  and  obliged  him  at 
last  to  decline  receiving  us.  He  did  it  with  an  expression 
of  regret,  at  being  under  the  necessity  of  treating  thus  the 
first  Americans  who  had  ever  visited  his  convent. 

But  while  I  am  able  to  speak  thus  in  favor  of  the  Cathol- 
icos  as  an  individual,  I  must  warn  you  that  the  administra- 
tion of  his  see  partakes  very  little  of  his  character.  So 
long  ago  as  when  Marty n  was  here,  it  appears  that  Nerses 
had  contrived,  in  the  name  of  a  synod  which  he  had  formed 
three  years  before,  to  get  the  management  of  it  so  com- 
pletely into  his  hands,  as  to  reduce  the  personal  influence 
of  the  Catholicos  to  a  cypher.  Upon  his  banishment,  the 
synod  effectively  assumed  the  rights  with  which  he  had 
nominally  invested  it,  and  has  since  been  the  only  seat  of 
power  in  the  convent.  It  consists  regularly  of  twelve 
members,  though  when  we  were  there  its  numbers  were 
reduced  by  vacancies  to  ten,  seven  of  whom  were  bishops, 
and  three  vartabeds.  The  present  character  of  its  meas- 
ures you  will  have  learned  from  the  recent  events  at 
Shoosha. 

The  peculiar  duties  of  the  Catholicos,  which  also  indi- 
cate the  extent  of  his  power,  and  the  chief  sources  of  his 
income,  are,  to  ordain  bishops,  and  to  consecrate  the  meiron. 
Whoever  wishes  for  episcopal  ordination,  in  any  part  of 
the  nation,  except  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  dioceses 
of  Sis  and  of  Aghtamar,  seeks  it  at  Echmiadzin.  The 
ceremony  is  performed  by  the  Catholicos,  aided  by  six  bish- 
ops. And  as  it  is  not  required  that  every  candidate  have 
a  diocese  in  view,  but  merely  present  a  certificate  from  his 

VOL.  II.  11* 


118 


ORDINATION   OF    BISHOPS. 


convent  that  it  has  need  of  his  services  as  a  bishop,  the 
number  of  applicants  is  sufficient  to  stock  almost  every 
convent  with  idle  bishops,  and  to  bring  considerable  reve- 
nue into  the  treasury  of  Echmiadzin.  For  the  gift  that  is 
communicated  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  is  not  gratuitous. 
In  the  absence  of  sufficient  data  for  an  average  of  the  price 
of  ordination,  I  can  only  give  the  following  items.  One 
bishop  is  credibly  reported  to  have  given  200  ducats, 
(about  $450,)  besides  another  hundred  (about  $225,)  at 
the  same  time,  for  a  mass  for  the  soul  of  his  deceased  pre- 
decessor. Another  bishop  declared  to  us,  that  in  his  own 
case  he  gave  nothing  for  ordination.  But  on  his  arrival 
at  the  convent,  he  made  to  the  Catholicos  a  large  present 
of  cloth,  cutlery,  and  whatever  else  of  choice  value  the 
place  from  which  he  came  afforded,  together  with  a  sum 
of  money,  called  '  kissing  the  hands.5  He  then  solicited 
the  favor  of  distributing  something  among  the  bishops  and 
vartabeds  of  the  convent;  and  the  Catholicos,  saying  'you 
need  not  give  yourself  the  trouble,'  appointed  a  bishop  to 
direct  him  how  much  to  give  to  each.  Thus  three  or  four 
thousand  piastres  were  expended.  For  the  mass  on  the 
day  of  his  ordination  he  gave  also  three  or  four  hundred ; 
and  a  dinner  for  all  the  monks,  which  followed,  cost  nearly 
a  thousand  more.  Being  from  Jerusalem,  he  probably 
paid  less  than  usual. 

The  meiron  is  the  holy  oil  which  is  used  at  confirma- 
tion, ordination,  and  various  other  ceremonies,  and  is  one 
of  the  principal  superstitions  of  the  Armenians.  Its  sancti- 
ty is  commonly  believed  to  be  miraculously  attested,  by  its 
being  made  to  boil  by  the  mere  ceremony  of  consecration. 
The  boiling  of  the  meiron,  indeed,  is  to  Echmiadzin,  what 
the  light  from  the  holy  sepulchre  is  to  Jerusalem  ;  though 
less  superstition  is  required  to  believe  the  former  than  the 
latter.  For,  without  attributing  any  very  wonderful  proper- 
ties to  the  bit  of  the  true  cross,  or  to  St.  Gregory's  hand, 


THE    MEIRON.  119 

which  are  used  upon  the  occasion,  the  oil  may  be  made,  by 
the  many  other  ingredients  which  are  put  into  it  at  its  conse- 
cration, to  exhibit  all  the  phenomena  of  boiling  ;  while,  al- 
though the  light  at  the  sepulchre  may  originate  without 
fire,  from  phosphorus  or  the  rays  of  the  sun,  to  separate 
from  it  the  property  of  burning,  can  only  be  done  by  a  su- 
perstitious imagination.  Not  only  is  the  value  of  the  mei- 
ron enhanced  by  many  incredible  stories  of  its  miraculous 
properties  and  effects  ;  but  it  is  made  by  the  laws  of  the 
church  absolutely  necessary  to  several  ordinances,  especially 
to  that  of  confirmation;  and,  being  a  complete  monopoly,  it 
becomes  not  an  unprofitable  speculation.  It  is  carried 
through  the  nation  by  a  novirag,  or  nuncio,  who  is  a  var- 
tabed  or  bishop  appointed  to  collect  contributions  for  the 
convent.  Such  agents  are  sent  very  frequently  wherever 
the  Armenians  are  scattered,  to  urge  the  claims  of  Echmi- 
adzin upon  the  purses  of  all  the  spiritual  children  of  St. 
Gregory ;  and  they  are  peculiarly  successful,  when  they 
carry  in  their  pocket  a  bottle  of  meiron.  For  the  sacred 
gift  is  often  carefully  withheld  until  the  people  have  pro- 
duced what  the  agent  is  pleased  to  consider  their  quota  of 
the   contribution. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Echmiadzin,  there  seems  to  be  little 
less  than  a  formal  sale  of  it.  The  vartabed  who  visited  Shoo- 
sha  while  we  were  there,  not  only  acted  as  wekeel  of  the 
Catholicos,  for  the  suppression  of  heresy,  but  was  clothed 
with  the  more  profitable  office  of  novirag,  for  the  collection 
of  contributions,  and  the  distribution  of  the  meiron.  Dele- 
gates of  the  different  villages  visited  him,  and  while  the  con- 
tribution was  fixed  at  so  much  per  head,  the  conditions  of 
their  receiving  the  meiron  were  settled  in  a  manner  not 
unlike  a  formal  bargain  in  trade.  If  the  few  data  that 
came  to  our  knowledge  afford  a  correct  general  average, 
the  province  of  Kara-bagh  contributed  upon  that  occasion  to 
the  treasury  of  Echmiadzin,  not  far  from  ten  thousand  dol- 


120  THE    NOVIRAG. 

lars.  St.  James's  at  Jerusalem  is  the  only  other  Armenian 
convent,  which  custom  allows  to  employ  novirags  to  in- 
crease its  funds.  One  of  them  was  in  this  vicinity  at  the 
time  of  our  journey ;  and  although  his  convent  does  not 
manufacture  meiron,  he  was  not  without  an  expedient  for 
enforcing  its  claims.  He  argued  in  his  preaching,  it  was 
said,  that  all  departed  spirits  have  to  take  Jerusalem  in 
their  way  to  heaven  ;  and  that  none  are  allowed  by  St. 
James  to  pass,  except  such  as  have  contributed  to  his  con- 
vent !  In  reaping  the  harvest  for  his  employers,  the  novi- 
rag  of  either  convent  always  gleans  copiously  for  himself. 
For  not  only  is  he  entitled  to  the  profits  of  every  mass  he 
says,  and  to  some  other  special  contributions,  but  no  vouch- 
ers being  required  to  the  accounts  he  renders  at  the  ter- 
mination of  his  mission,  the  widest  door  is  opened  for  em- 
bezzlement. And  it  is  a  well  known  fact,  at  Jerusalem, 
that  almost  every  novirag  returns  rich. 

Among  the  other  sources  of  the  Catholicos's  income, 
pilgrimages,  and  the  glebes  of  the  convent,  may  be  men- 
tioned. Every  pilgrim  is  expected  to  pay,  according  to 
his  ability,  for  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  shrine  of  the 
holy  Illuminator.  The  domains  of  Echmiadzin  formerly 
embraced  twenty-three  villages,  if  we  may  believe  the  sec- 
retary of  the  Catholicos,  who  affirmed  that  its  claims  to 
that  number  were  attested  by  written  documents  from  the 
Shah.  He  said,  however,  that  it  had  presented  to  the  em- 
peror all  of  them  but  three.  Among  the  three  retained,  is 
the  large  village  of  Vagharshabad.  The  convent  receives 
the  capitation  tax  of  a  ducat,  and  twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
produce. — You  need  not  be  reminded,  that  the  Catholicos 
receives  all  this  income,  as  head  of  the  convent,  and  that, 
of  course,  all  the  expenses  of  that  extensive  establishment 
must  be  drawn  from  it.  The  sum  to  be  thus  deducted, 
considering  the  number  and  character  of  its  inmates  can- 
not be  small.     When  we  were  there,  the  convent  contain- 


POWER    OF    THE    CATHOLICOS.  121 

ed  fourteen  bishops,  forty-five  or  fifty  vartabeds,  and  seven 
or  eight  deacons. 

The  patriarchal  power  of  the  Catholicos,  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  bishops  to  their  dioceses  and  the  direct  control 
of  their  duties  as  diocesans,  has  never,  so  far  as  we  are  in- 
formed, extended  over  the  Armenians  in  Turkey,  since 
the  establishment  of  the  patriarchate  of  Constantinople. 
Still,  wherever  the  Armenians  venerate  him  as  the  spiritual 
head  of  their  church,  are  governed  by  bishops  of  his  or- 
dination, depend  upon  him  for  their  meiron,  and  send  to 
him  their  contributions  at  the  call  of  his  novirags,  his  in- 
fluence cannot  be  small.  These  relations  the  whole  na- 
tion, with  the  exception  of  the  small  dioceses  of  Aghtamar 
and  Sis,  formerly  sustained  to  him.  But  since  he  has 
become  a  subject  of  Russia,  the  Turkish  Armenians  have 
felt  themselves  forced  by  the  Sultan's  jealousy  of  Russian 
espionage  and  influence,  to  renounce  them.  The  patri- 
arch of  Constantinople  informed  us,  in  May  of  1830,  that 
for  about  two  years  they  had  ceased  to  have  any  commu- 
nication with  him,  and  even  to  mention  his  name  in  the 
mass.  *  Not,'  said  he,  '  that  we  have  really  deserted  our 
Catholicos ;  we  are  still  attached  to  him,  and  this  is  only 
a  temporary  measure,  which  circumstances  have  forced 
upon  us.'  Others  affirmed  that  the  Turks  had  been  given 
to  understand,  that  the  Catholicos  of  Sis  was  now  the  head 
of  the  Armenian  church  in  Turkey.  You  will  wish,  after 
learning  the  character  of  the  present  administration  of 
Echmiadzin,  that  this  disconnection  were  something  more 
than  a  temporary  pretence.  It  would  certainly  leave  the 
Armenians  of  Turkey  more  open  to  the  operations  of  mis- 
sionaries. Even  let  its  influence  in  that  empire  return  to 
its  former  state,  however,  and  it  will  hardly  be  sufficient 
to  throw  insurmountable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  missions. 

The  power  which  the  Catholicos  is  to  enjoy  in  Russia, 
has  hardly  yet  been  defined.     We  were  assured  that  the 


122  ARMENIAN    DIOCESES. 

plan  of  an  ecclesiastical  establishment  for  the  Armenians 
had  been  presented  to  the  emperor  and  approved  by  him  ; 
but  it  was  not  yet  promulgated,  and  we  did  not  learn  its 
provisions.  At  present,  bishops  are  appointed  to  dioceses 
in  the  Russian  territories,  by  the  synod  of  Echmiadzin  in 
connection  with  the  civil  power.  The  synod  sends  the 
names  of  two  or  three  candidates  to  the  emperor,  and  he 
selects  one  for  the  office.  The  following  are  the  diocesans 
now  subject  to  Russia,  according  to  a  statement  given  us 
by  the  secretary  of  the  Catholicos,  and  agreeing  with  in- 
formation from  another  intelligent  gentleman ;  viz.  the 
bishops  of  Bessarabia,  Astrakhan,  Tiflis,  Akhaltsikhe,  Er- 
ivan,  Datev,  Kantsasar,  Shamakhy,  Sheky  (subject  to  the 
bishop  of  Tiflis,)  and  Tateos  Arakeal  now  at  Nakhchevan. 
On  the  side  of  Persia,  the  secretary  said  there  was  a  bishop 
at  Tebriz,  a  second  at  Isfahan,  and  a  third  in  Hindostan, 
with  Bagdad  and  Bussorah  under  him.  He  added  also  a 
written  list  of  twenty-three  diocesans  in  Turkey ;  but  owing, 
perhaps,  to  the  constantly  varying  number  and  limits  of  the 
dioceses  in  that  empire,  we  did  not  find  it  correct,  and  I 
shall  not  enumerate  them.  Indeed  he  warned  us  that  the 
list  for  the  Russian  branch  of  the  church,  was  true  only 
for  the  present  moment,  as  an  order  had  just  come  down 
from  the  emperor,  for  an  entirely  new  arrangement.  In 
connection  with  our  conversation  upon  the  dioceses  of  his 
church,  the  secretary  asked  for  our  estimate  of  the  number 
of  his  nation,  and  we  mentioned  about  2,000,000.  He  as- 
sented that  such  is  the  number  usually  written,  but  de- 
clared it  to  be  his  own  opinion,  that  10,000,000  would  be 
nearer  the  truth ;  for,  it  being  understood  by  all,  that  money 
was  to  be  paid  when  bishops  made  their  visits,  great  num- 
bers concealed  themselves,  and  thus  failed  of  being  re- 
corded ! 

Monday  morning  found  us  still  in  the  same  state  of  non^ 
intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  convent.     We  had 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  VARTABEDS.         123 

had  a  visit  from  no  one,  the  Catholicos  had  not  sent  for  us, 
and  every  effort,  but  one,  on  our  part  to  procure  an  inter- 
view with  individuals,  or  to  see  the  curiosities  of  the  con- 
vent, had  failed.  We  now  determined  to  make  one  more 
trial,  and  if  unsuccessful,  to  depart.  A  request  was  accord- 
ingly sent  to  Hosep  vartabed,  the  librarian  whom  we  had 
met  with  the  bishop  on  Saturday,  to  show  us  the  library. 
In  reply,  he  invited  us  to  call  on  him.  We  were  conduct- 
ed to  the  room  which  the  general,  who  had  left  the  evening 
before,  had  occupied,  and  found  the  vartabed  Hovhannes 
Soorenean,  the  secretary  of  the  Catholicos  for  whom  we 
had  brought  a  letter  from  the  bishop  of  Aderbaijan,  and 
Lucas  vartabed,  who  had  formerly  been  in  Smyrna,  togeth- 
er with  one  or  two  others,  all  evidently  among  the  most  ac- 
tive and  intelligent  members  of  the  convent.  Tea  was 
served  up,  as  a  formal  act  of  civility,  in  imitation  of  Rus- 
sian customs  in  these  provinces ;  but  our  reception  was 
marked  with  much  suspicion,  and  evidently  intended  to  be 
very  cold.  The  conversation  was  commenced  by  Hovhan- 
nes's  inquiring  the  object  for  which  we  were  travelling. 
We  replied  that  it  was  to  obtain  information  respecting  Ar- 
menia and  its  inhabitants,  especially  the  religious  condition 
of  the  latter.  He  at  first  intimated,  that  for  this  a  personal 
visit  to  the  country  could  hardly  be  necessary,  as  it  4had 
often  been  described  by  travellers ;  but  when  we  remind- 
ed him,  that  they  had  directed  their  investigations  so  ex- 
clusively to  other  objects  of  inquiry,  as  to  leave  us  until 
now  without  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  morals  and  relig- 
ion of  the  Armenians ;  he  admitted,  that  even  in  the  an- 
tiquities of  the  country,  they  had  made  many  mistakes,  and 
declared  that  he  was  himself  publishing  a  book  at  Tiflis, 
to  throw  light  upon  the  antiquities  of  Haghpad,  which 
might  correct  the  errors  of  one  traveller  whom  he  named. 
He  then  intimated  that  in  order  to  avoid  similar  errors, 
we  ought  to  direct  our  inquiries  to  intelligent  natives  of  the 


124  ESSENTIAL    ARTICLES    OF    FAITH. 

country ;  and  thus  gave  us  an  opportunity  to  declare,  that 
for  that  very  object  we  had  come  to  Echmiadzin. 

Having  obtained  from  us  a  declaration  of  the  belief  of 
our  denomination,  that  Christ  is  God  and  man  ;  he  affirm- 
ed that  the  trinity,  and  the  divinity  of  Christ,  are  the  two 
essential  articles  of  Christian  faith.  The  declaration  ac- 
corded with  a  similar  expression  from  the  bishop  of  Datev, 
and  reminds  me  to  say,  that,  the  idea  of  faith  commonly 
entertained  by  the  Armenians,  is  a  mere  belief  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  name  of 
whom  they  cross  themselves ;  or,  at  most,  an  assent  to  the 
creeds  which  are  repeated  daily  in  their  churches.  Of 
justifying  faith  they  have  no  knowledge ;  and  when  it  is 
announced  to  them,  they  look  upon  it  as  almost  as  strange 
a  doctrine,  as  did  the  philosophers  of  Athens  upon  those 
which  Paul  preached  upon  Mars-hill.  We  admitted  that 
the  trinity,  and  the  divinity  of  Christ,  are  essential  points ; 
but  added  that  there  was  another,  which  we  held  to  be  not 
less  important — the  death  of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  that  men  through  him  might  be  saved.  He  barely 
assented  that  the  Armenians  believe  that  too,  and  passed  to 
another  inquiry,  which  evidently  stood  more  prominent  in 
his  mind,  and  occupied  the  next  place  to  the  two  articles 
he  had  already  mentioned.  It  related  to  the  perpetual 
virginity  of  Mary.  We  replied,  that  we  all  believe  her  to 
have  been  a  virgin  till  her  conception  of  Christ,  because 
the  Bible  expressly  affirms  it ;  but  of  her  state  afterward, 
as  we  have  no  ecclesiastical  canons  on  the  subject,  some 
may  incline  one  way  and  some  another,  according  as  they 
understand  the  Scriptures.  He  declared  the  belief  of  his 
church  to  be,  that  she  was  a  virgin  both  before  and  after 
the  birth  of  our  Savior,  and  that  she  is  the  mother  of 
God,  but  not  born  without  original  sin.  Still  his  church 
would  not  pronounce  those  not  to  be  Christians  who  be- 
lieve differently. 


CONDITIONS    OF    SALVATION.  125 

The  two  things  necessary  for  salvation,  he  said,  were 
baptism  and  the  communion.  He  afterward  explained 
that  their  doctors  distinguish  three  kinds  of  baptism,  either 
of  which  is  effectual ;  one,  the  actual  application  of  water 
in  the  name  of  the  Trinity ;  another,  the  wish  of  a  moslem 
or  heathen  for  baptism  at  the  hour  of  death ;  and  a  third, 
the  desire  of  a  person  who  is  under  a  master  that  will  not 
allow  him  to  receive  the  ordinance.  The  same  distinction 
he  also  admitted  in  regard  to  the  viaticum,  or  communion 
at  death ;  it  was  necessary,  but  when  it  could  not  be  had, 
the  wish  for  it  was  equivalent.  We  replied,  that  in  John 
3:  5,  not  only  being  born  of  water,  or  baptism,  but  also 
being  born  of  the  Spirit,  or  internal  regeneration,  is  de- 
clared to  be  necessary  to  admission  into  heaven ;  one  of 
which  we  believe  to  be  an  external  sign  of  the  other,  and 
not  productive  of  it,  nor  necessarily  accompanied  by  it ; 
and  then  inquired  if  his  church  holds  baptism  to  be  regen- 
eration, or  acknowledges  the  necessity  likewise  of  a  change 
of  heart.  He  confessed,  in  answer,  that  it  knows  of  no 
other  change  than  external  baptism.  I  must  add,  from 
other  authority,  that,  not  only  are  the  Armenians  now  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  that  great  change  of  moral  character, 
regeneration,  but  they  seem  not  to  know  of  any  special 
operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  heart,  almost  the 
only  peculiar  influences  commonly  ascribed  to  him,  being 
those  by  which  miracles  are  wrought.  In  fact,  in  their 
practical  ideas  of  the  economy  of  salvation,  the  third  per- 
son of  the  Trinity  seems  hardly  to  have  a  place. — Ques- 
tions respecting  election  and  the  kindred  doctrines,  which 
divide  Calvinists  and  Arminians  among  us,  have  never 
been  agitated  in  the  Armenian  church,  nor  do  any  opin- 
ions exist  respecting  them.  Possibly  something  may  have 
crept  into  its  very  oldest  writers  from  St.  Augustin  and 
others ;  but  almost,  if  not  quite,  all  its  theological  works 
are  entirely  scholastic,  and  probably  the  Armenian  lan- 

VOL.  II.  12 


126 


MODE    OF    BAPTISM. 


guage  does  not  contain  a  clear  exhibition  of  the  doctrines 
of  grace,  out  of  the  Bible. 

According  to  the  rules  of  the  Armenian  church,  I  believe, 
baptism  consists  in  plunging  the  whole  body  in  water  three 
times,  as  the  sacred  formula  is  repeated ;  but  the  present 
mode  of  administering  it  in  Armenia,  we  were  assured  by 
more  than  one  intelligent  ecclesiastic,  is  by  pouring  upon 
the  head  of  the  child,  sitting  in  the  font,  a  handful  of 
water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  another  in  the  name  of 
the  Son,  and  a  third  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
then  plunging  the  whole  body  three  times,  to  signify  that 
Christ  was  in  the  grave  three  days.  That  entire  immer- 
sion, and  the  triple  repetition,  are  not  considered  essential, 
however,  is  proved  by  the  fact,  that  the  baptism  of  even 
heretical  sects  who  only  sprinkle  once,  is  considered  valid, 
and  persons  thus  baptized  are  not  required,  as  among  the 
Greeks,  to  submit  to  the  ordinance  again,  on  entering  the 
Armenian  church.  We  once  inquired  of  a  bishop,  what  is 
the  effect  of  baptism,  and  were  answered,  with  the  greatest 
astonishment  at  our  ignorance,  that  it  takes  away  original 
sin.  The  doctrine,  however,  that  all  who  die  unbaptized 
are  thrust  immediately  down  to  hell  for  Adam's  sin,  though 
firmly  held  by  the  Armenians,  has  not  led  them,  as  it  has 
the  papists,  to  allow  in  urgent  cases  of  lay  baptism.  The 
ordinance  can  be  performed  by  those  only  who  have  been 
admitted  to  priest's  orders.  Generally  it  is  done,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  Jewish  law  of  circumcision,  on  the  eighth 
day,  though  dangerous  illness  sometimes  hastens  it,  and 
when  no  priest  is  at  hand  it  is  postponed. 

The  Armenian  church  holds  to  the  usual  number  of  sev* 
en  sacraments.  Baptism,  the  communion,  marriage,  ordina- 
tion, and  penance  have  already  been  remarked  upon,  in  this 
and  preceding  letters.  The  remaining  two,  confirmation  and 
extreme  unction,  also  came  up  in  the  course  of  our  conver- 
sation with  the  vartabeds.     The  former  is  always  perform- 


CONFIRMATION.  127 

ed  at  the  same  time  as  baptism ;  and  consists  in  anointing 
with   due  ceremony  the  forehead,  and  the  organs  of  the 
five  senses,  viz.  the  eyes,  ears,  nose,  mouth,  and  hands  and 
feet,  with  the  holy  oil.     In  fact,  the  sacredness  of  that  ma- 
terial so  eclipses  every  other  ceremony  of  the  occasion, 
that,  not  only  has  meiron  come  to  be  the  common  name  for 
confirmation,  but  in  the  estimation  of  the  vulgar,  at  least, 
it  is  considered  as  acting  a  more  efficacious  part  than  even 
the  water  of  baptism,  in  making  the  child  an  heir  of  heaven. 
It  is  always  conferred  by  the  parish  priest  who  administers 
the  baptism,  and  not,  as  in  the  English  and  Romish  church- 
es, by  a  bishop. — Extreme  unction  seems  not  to  be  uni- 
versally practised  by  the  Armenians.     One  bishop  assured 
us  that  it  is  now  entirely  disused,  and  a  gentleman  of  infor- 
mation told  us,  that  he  had  searched  for  it  in  vain  in  the  for- 
mularies of  the  church.     Still,  the  vartabeds  this  morning, 
in  agreement  with  some  others  of  whom  we  inquired,  con- 
tended that  it  is  regularly  administered  at  baptism!     The 
reason  assigned  for  so  early  an  application  of  the  last  pre- 
paration for  death,  was,  that  the  Armenians,  being  a  scat- 
tered   and  oppressed  people,  liable  often   to  die  where  a 
priest  cannot  be  had,  it  is  thought  best  to  secure  to  every 
one  at  the  commencement  of  life,  what  is  so  absolutely  es- 
sential to  the  future  happiness  of  the  soul.     Probably  it  is 
united  in  the  ritual  with  confirmation,   especially  as  both 
consist  in  annointing  with   meiron.      Or   rather,   I    sup- 
pose the  Armenian  church  really  has  not  this  sacrament, 
and  has  only  taken  some  part  of  the  ceremony  of  confirma- 
tion, and  called  it  extreme  unction,  in  accommodation  to 
papal  ideas.     It  is  never  administered  at  the  hour  of  death. 
You  will  now  perceive,  that,  as  the  communion  also  is  al- 
ways given  at  baptism,  four  sacraments  are  then  crowded 
at  once  upon  an  infant  generally  only  eight  days  old  ;  viz. 
baptism,  confirmation,  extreme  unction,  and  communion  ! 
The  vartabed  Lucas,  who  from  the  beginning  had  shown 


128 


SIGN    OF    THE    CROSS. 


much  less  candor  than  Hovhannes,  and  had  particularly 
objected  to  his  liberal  concession  of  the  Christian  name  to 
such  as  deny  the  perpetual  virginity  of  Mary,  at  length 
seemed  determined  upon  dispute,  and  threw  out  as  a  bone 
of  contention,  an  accusation  against  us  of  inconsistency, 
in  admitting  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  and  still  not  honoring 
the  cross.  We  replied,  that  the  death  of  Christ  as  an 
atonement  for  sin,  is  indeed  the  foundation  and  substance 
of  all  our  preaching ;  but  we  consider  that  if  it  be  believed 
with  the  heart,  the  external  sign  is  a  matter  of  perfect 
indifference.  At  this  he  only  grew  warmer,  and  began 
to  assign  reasons  for  its  absolute  necessity.  Determined 
not  to  be  drawn  into  a  heated  argument,  we  reminded 
him  that  we  were  not  now  disputing  whether  we  or  they 
are  right,  but  only  conversing  for  mutual  information ; 
and  then,  briefly  explaining  how  the  doctrine,  that  what 
Scripture  enjoins  must  be  done  and  what  it  does  not  enjoin 
is  unessential,^liesthe  foundation  of  all  our  theological  views, 
we  told  him  that  we  do  not  deem  this  ceremony  necessary, 
because  it  is  not  ordered  in  the  word  of  God.  A  word  or 
two  among  themselves  led  them  to  conclude,  that,  as  the 
Bible  does  indeed  say  nothing  of  the  sign  of  the  cross,  we 
were  beyond  the  reach  of  argument  respecting  it ;  and  im- 
mediately the  conversation  assumed  a  more  friendly  turn. 

We  were  happy  to  have  an  opportunity,  in  answer  to 
several  questions,  to  describe  to  them  the  simplicity  of  our 
own  religious  rites. — Lucas  inquired  if  we  say  mass  every 
Sabbath,  or  once  a  month,  or  only  once  a  year.  To  meet 
the  idea  prevalent  among  them,  that  the  performance  of 
mass  is  the  chief  duty  of  a  priest,  we  replied,  that  our  cler- 
gy preach  regularly  once  or  twice  every  Sabbath ;  but  that 
the  elements  of  the  eucharist  are  never  consecrated,  except 
when  all  who  are  qualified  are  expected  to  commune. 
Then,  the  form  described  in  the  Gospel  is  used :  the  min- 
ister first  prays,  breaks  the  bread,  and  distributes  it;  then 


OUR    OWN    RELIGIOUS    RITES.  129 

he  prays  again,  and  distributes  the  wine ;  and  a  hymn, 
sung  by  all,  closes  the  ceremony.  This  occurs  in  some 
places,  we  informed  them,  every  month,  in  others  once  in 
two  months,  and  in  others  still,  once  in  three  months. 
He  approved. — Hovhannes  inquired  if  we  have  the  sacra- 
ment of  confession.  In  order  to  show  them,  that,  though 
we  are  destitute  of  this,  we  have  another  effectual  means 
of  preventing  unqualified  persons  from  approaching  the 
table  of  the  Lord,  we  replied,  that  before  admission  for  the 
first  time  to  the  communion,  every  candidate  is  examined 
as  to  his  faith  and  practice  by  certain  officers  of  the 
church,  of  whom  the  pastor  is  generally  one.  If  they  ap- 
prove, he  is  proposed  to  the  body  of  communicants ;  and, 
after  sufficient  time  has  elapsed  for  them  to  form  an 
opinion  of  his  character,  he  is  admitted  by  vote,  and  ever 
afterward  has  a  right  to  commune,  without  any  subsequent 
examination.  At  the  time  of  his  admission,  however,  be- 
sides a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  he  enters  into  a 
solemn  covenant  with  the  other  communicants,  and  they 
also  with  him,  in  which  is  included  an  obligation  to  exer- 
cise a  Christian  watchfulness  over  the  conduct  of  each 
other.  So  that  each  is  watching  over  the  other,  and  the 
pastor  over  all,  and  if  any  one  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  and 
private  admonitions  fail  to  reclaim  him,  he  is  brought  before 
the  church,  reproved,  suspended  from  communion,  or  ex- 
communicated, as  they  shall  determine  by  vote.  We  have 
more  than  once  found  an  account  of  the  organization  of 
our  churches,  though  a  thing  never  dreamed  of  before, 
make  a  very  favorable  impression  upon  Armenians  to  whom 
we  have  given  it,  and  such  seemed  to  be  its  effect  upon  the 
vartabeds.  They  only  inquired,  as  we  had  said  that  none 
are  ever  admitted  to  the  communion  till  they  arrive  at 
years  of  discretion,  if  baptism  is  postponed  in  the  same 
way ;  and  seemed  satisfied  at  our  reply,  that  it  is  generally 
administered  the  first  time  the  mother  is  able  to  attend 

VOL.  II.  12* 


130       COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    ARMENIAN    SABBATH. 

church,  and  sometimes  earlier  if  the  child  is  in  danger  of 
dying. — They  also  inquired  which  way  we  direct  our  de- 
votions. We  replied,  that,  believing  God  to  be  present 
every  where,  as  much  in  the  west  as  in  the  east,  we  never 
think  of  the  points  of  the  compass  when  we  are  about  to 
pray.  The  Armenians,  however,  they  assured  us,  are 
always  careful  to  face  the  east  at  the  time  of  prayer ;  a 
thing  which  we  often  observed,  especially  in  the  position  of 
their  churches.  Indeed,  so  well  is  that  understood  to  be 
the  point  toward  which  they  always  pray,  that  we  have 
more  than  once  known  our  moslem  muleteers,  when  at  a 
loss  for  the  direction  of  Mecca,  inquire  of  the  Armenians 
for  their  kiblah,  and  turning  at  right  angles,  begin  their 
devotions. 

Having  been  already  informed,  that  the  Armenians  gen- 
erally labor  neither  on  Saturday  nor  on  Sabbath  evening, 
we  inquired  when,  according  to  their  church,  the  Sabbath 
commences.  Their  reply  was,  that,  though  the  true  day 
begins  and  ends  at  midnight,  their  canons  forbid  labor  after 
sunset  on  Saturday  evening,  and  after  the  same  hour  on 
Sunday  evening  leave  every  one  to  his  own  inclinations. 
The  same  rule  applies  to  the  great  festivals,  but  the  fasts 
are  kept  from  midnight  to  midnight.  They  argued  the 
correctness  of  their  church,  from  the  expression,  '  the  eve- 
ning and  the  morning,'  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis ;  and 
from  the  declaration  that  Christ  lay  in  the  grave  three  days. 
For  the  Armenians,  and,  I  believe,  the  Greeks  also,  never 
doubt  that  our  Savior  arose  precisely  at  midnight,  and  of 
Gourse  the  first  day  of  the  week  cannot  be  included  among 
the  three  that  he  was  in  the  grave,  unless  it  begins  before 
that  hour.  Labor  is  now  usually  suspended  on  Saturday, 
from  the  termination  of  evening  prayers,  which  is  generally 
a  little  before  sunset. 

They  assured  us,  in  answer  to  our  inquiries,  that  a  time 
is  believed  by  them  to  be  coming,  when  the  whole  world 


IDEAS    OF    MISSIONS.  131 

will  embrace  Christianity ;  and  as  a  proof  that  it  is  at 
hand,  they  declared  that  the  Persians,  as  a  body,  are  now 
prepared  for  such  a  step,  were  they  not  afraid  of  their  gov- 
ernment. We  suggested  that  the  labors  of  Martyn  had 
contributed  to  persuade  some  of  that  nation  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  and  reminded  them  of  his  visit  to  their  con- 
vent. They  barely  said  that  they  recollected  his  name,  and 
went  on  to  affirm,  that  the  moslems  are  much  more  ready 
to  unite  with  the  Armenians,  who  are  their  neighbors  and 
well  known,  than  with  any  foreign  missionaries.  The 
German  missionaries  had  been  preaching,  they  said,  so  ma- 
ny years,  and  still  had  made  no  converts,  while  they  had 
baptized,  since  the  war,  forty  or  fifty,  who  had  come  of 
their  own  accord  to  the  convent,  and  solicited  the  rite. 
They  acknowledged,  however,  that  not  very  strict  qualifica- 
tions were  demanded,  as,  instead  of  a  belief  or  even  knowl- 
edge of  all  the  dogmas  of  their  church,  only  an  acknowl- 
edgement of  the  trinity,  and  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  was 
required  of  the  candidates ;  the  latter  of  which  points  they 
explained,  when  questioned  by  us  if  a  belief  in  the  atoning 
sacrifice  of  Christ  was  not  deemed  necessary,  as  embracing 
the  whole  character  of  the  Savior. 

The  morning  passed  away  in  friendly  conversation,  dur- 
ing which  many  apologies  were  made  that  no  more  atten- 
tion had  been  paid  us  on  our  arrival,  and  an  invitation  was 
given  us  to  dine  with  them  to-day.  We  accordingly  sat 
down  about  twelve  o'clock  to  a  plentiful  repast.  Trout  had 
formed  a  part  of  almost  every  meal  we  had  eaten  in  the 
convent;  and  observing  it  also  upon  the  table  now,  we  in- 
quired from  whence  they  were  obtained.  They  replied, 
that  they  were  from  the  lake  of  Sevan ;  and  affirmed  that  that 
lake  contains  twelve  kinds  of  fish,  which  succeed  each 
other  in  regular  rotation,  month  by  month:  this  was  the 
month  for  trout ! — The  visit  to  the  library,  our  request  for 
which  in  the  morning  had  procured  us  this  interview,  was 


132  SECRETARY    OF   THE    CATHOLICOS. 

not  forgotten,  and  after  dinner,  we  were  conducted  to  it  by 
Hovhannes.  The  books  were  crowded  together  without 
much  order,  and  though  numerous,  they  doubtless  fall  far 
short  of  his  estimate,  which  was  16,000  volumes.  Among 
them  were  many  manuscripts ;  some  bearing  marks  of  con- 
siderable antiquity,  and  others  yielding  to  none  that  I  have 
ever  seen,  in  any  language,  in  beauty.  He  declared  that 
the  convent  has  now  no  school,  and  that  its  press  is  no 
longer  in  operation. 

From  the  library,  Hovhannes  invited  us  to  his  own  apart- 
ments, and  in  the  course  of  a  long  conversation,  communi- 
cated a  variety  of  information,  which  I  have  given  else- 
where. We  became  much  interested  in  him.  He  was 
educated  by  the  Catholicos,  has  been  with  him  ever  since 
his  appointment  to  his  present  office,  and  is  now  his  secre- 
tary. No  other  of  the  monks  knows  Russian,  nor,  I  be- 
lieve, any  foreign  language.  He  doubtless,  according  to 
the  fashion  of  the  country,  expressed  more  friendship  than 
he  felt,  but  many  circumstances  convinced  us,  that  he 
really  possessed  more  candor  and  sense,  than  is  usually 
found  under  the  cowl  of  a  monk.  He  visited  us  in  the 
evening,  to  request  that  we  would  ask  him  then  for  any 
additional  information  we  might  desire,  as  he  should  be 
engaged  in  the  synod  to-morrow.  When  speaking  of  mis- 
sions in  the  morning,  he  had  lamented  that  divisions  had 
hitherto  weakened  the  church,  and  prevented  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world ;  and  now  he  voluntarily  expressed  great 
pleasure,  that  the  different  sects  are  becoming  more  friend- 
ly to  each  other,  and  that  the  religious  wars  which  disgrace 
the  history  of  former  ages,  are  heard  of  no  more,  and 
would,  in  fact,  in  the  present  state  of  the  world,  be 
impossible.  '  It  is  time '  said  he,  '  that  those  who  agree  in 
the  doctrines  of  the  trinity,  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  the 
atonement,  (we  feared  the  latter  was  suggested  only  by  our 
repeated  mention  of  it  in  the  morning,)  should  no  longer 


RETURN    TO    NAKHCHEVAN.  133 

be  divided  by  such  minor  points  as  fasting  and  the  like.' 
— A  tray  of  beautiful  apples,  pears,  grapes  and  melons 
from  Hosep  vartabed,  in  the  evening,  gave  additional  evi- 
dence of  a  desire  to  make  up  for  the  coldness  of  our  first 
reception. 

After  a  cup  of  tea  with  the  vartabeds,  we  left  Echmiad- 
zin on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  November.  Before 
reaching  Erivan,  I  had  another  attack  of  the  ague  and 
fever,  which  was  repeated  for  two  or  three  days  succeeding. 
But  with  no  other  remedy  than  riding,  it  passed  away,  and 
we  reached  Nakhchevan  again  on  the  29th  of  the  same 
month. 


LETTER  XVII. 

FROM   NAKHCHEVAN   TO   TEBRIZ. 

Leave  Nakhchevan — Cross  the  Aras — Benighted  in  the  open  air — Pery- 
kend — Khoy — Delayed  by  sickness — Conveyed  in  a  takhtirewao  to  Tebriz 
— Kindness  of  English  friends — Description  of  Tebriz — Its  trade — The 
prince  royal,  Abbas  Mirza — His  government. 

Dear  Sir, 

We  left  Nakhchevan  for  Tebriz  in  Persia,  on  the  3d  of 
December.     The  shortest  and  most  usual  route  is   by  Esgy 
Joolfah  on  the  Aras,  and  Merend,  an  ancient  Armenian 
city  now  the  capital  of  a  district  of  the  province  of  Ader- 
Daijan.     But  hearing  that  the  plague  existed   at  Merend, 
we  avoided  that  route,  and  took  the  road  to  Khoy.     The 
general,  prince  Bebutoff,  had  politely  ordered  the  police  at 
Nakhchevan,  by  letter,  to  furnish  us  with  a  guide,  and  we 
were  detained  until  10  A.  M.  before  he  was  ready.     Start- 
ing at  that  hour,  we  descended   immediately  into  the  allu- 
vial, which  lies  between  the  town   and  the  river.     It  was 
little  cultivated,  and  the  villages  upon  it  were  few.     After 
a  ride  of  two  fursakhs,  we  reached  the  Aras  at  half  past 
12  o'clock,  near   Abbas-abad,  a  fortress  named  after  its 
founder,  the  present  prince  royal  of  Persia.     Its  mud  walls 
and  deep  fosse,  constructed  upon  the  modern  principles  of 
fortification,  would  give  it  an  appearance  of  strength  ;  had 
it  a  more  favorable  location  than  the  mere  level  plain. 
We  were  not  allowed  to  enter  it,  and  passed  on  to  the  ferry 
at  the  quarantine   ground,  perhaps   a  half  a  mile  below. 
Here  was  no  lazaretto,  and  only  two  or  three  rooms  under- 
ground, and  a  miserable  tent  or  two,  accommodated  a  com- 


ENTER    PERSIA,  135 

pany  of  half  starved  travellers,  who  were  doomed  to  a 
quarantine  of  ten  or  fourteen  days.  Karmir-vank  (the  red 
convent,)  a  monastery  of  some  distinction  in  the  ancient 
canton  of  Koghten,*  appeared  not  far  below.  It  was  now 
the  residence  of  the  bishop  of  Aderbaijan,  whom  we  had 
met  at  Nakhchevan  on  our  first  visit. 

Gur  passports  had  to  be  examined  by  the    commandant 
of  the  fortress,  before  we  could  cross  the  river,  and  were 
accordingly   sent  by   the  hands  of  a  soldier.     He  return- 
ed with  the  report,  that  a  general  being  there,  the  comman- 
dant was  too  much  occupied   to  attend  to  them.     Thus, 
though  there  was  but  just  time  to  reach  the  nearest  village 
on  the  opposite  side  before  dark,  we  were  detained  three  or 
four  hours.     We  had  laid  in,  too,  but  a  small  stock  of  pro- 
visions in  bread  and  cheese,  and  the  poor  people  here  being 
unable  to  spare  us  a  morsel,  we  had  the  prospect  of  a  hun- 
gry as  well  as  a  houseless  night.     At  length  the  general  was 
seen  approaching.     It  was  general  R.  whose  kindness  in 
previous  embarrassments  we  have   already  had    occasion 
more  than  once  to  acknowledge.     He  expressed  much  sur- 
prise at  finding  us  so  often  detained,  and   instantly  des- 
patched one  of  his  suite,  to  see  that  we  had  our  passports 
immediately.     They  soon  came,  but  the  ferry  was  so  ex- 
tremely awkward,  that  before  all  our  company  and  baggage 
reached  the  Persian  bank  of  the  Aras,  and  were  ready  to  pro- 
ceed, the  sun  was  near  setting.     Where  we  landed,  about 
a  thousand  bushels  of  barley  in  bags  were  lying  unguarded 
upon  the  ground.     It  belonged  to  the  prince,  Abbas  Mirza, 
who  had  sent  it  hither  to  be  passed  over  the  river  for  a 
market.     The  Russian  authorities  ordered  it  to  undergo  a 
long  quarantine  before  being   admitted,  and   directed  him 
to  send  men  to  take  care  of  it.     Provoked  by  such  a  regu- 
lation, he  caused  it  to  be  thrown  upon  the  ground,  and 
there  it  had  lain  for  three  months  when  we  passed,  entirely 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  l:p.  134. 


136  BENIGHTED    IN    THE    OPEN    AIR. 

exposed  to  the  weather,  and  to  the  depredations  of  birds, 
beasts  and  men.  Our  muleteers  failed  not  to  allow  their 
horses,  to  take  their  share.  We  pushed  on  with  the  hope 
of  finding  some  village  before  many  hours  ;  but  just  as  the 
last  ray  of  twilight  left  the  horizon,  we  lost  the  path,  and 
were  consequently  obliged  to  spread  our  carpets  in  the  open 
air  for  the  night.  The  dry  gravelly  lands,  which  occupy 
the  space  between  the  Aras  and  the  mountains  on  this  side, 
afford  no  wood  for  a  fire ;  nor  would  our  muleteers,  indeed, 
allow  one  to  be  built  even  of  weeds,  for  fear  of  attracting 
robbers ;  a  caution  which  showed  us  that  we  had  now  left  the 
safety  produced  by  Russian  police.  We  had  left  its  em- 
barrassments and  hindrances,  too ;  for  the  Persian  territory 
opens  its  arms  to  every  traveller,  neither  asking  him  whence 
he  comes  nor  whither  he  goes. 

Dec.  4.     The  night  proved  calm  and  mild  for  Decem- 
ber in  the  latitude  of  39°.     We  were  up  at  2,  and  started  at 
half  past  3.  A.  M.     Our  Persian  muleteers  had  begun,  al- 
most from  the  moment  of  crossing  the  Aras,  to  spit,  and 
throw  their  curses    at    the  country  upon  the  other  side; 
and  now,  just  before  sunrise,  they  stopped  the  whole  party 
to  say  their  prayers,   apparently  as  an  expression  of  their 
satisfaction  at  finding  themselves  once  more  out  of  the  pol- 
luted territories  of  the  hated   Russians.     We  had,  before 
that  hour,  left  the  valley  of  the  Aras.    Beyond,  our  path  led, 
with  little  perceptible  ascent  or  descent,  through  defiles  be- 
tween naked  hills,  exhibiting  hardly  a  sign  of  cultivation. 
High  mountains  around  were  covered  with  snow,  the  weath- 
er became  raw  and!  windy,  and  we  had  no  food  the  whole  day 
to  brace  us  against  the  cold,  and  give  us  strength  to  ride, 
but  the  remnants  of  our  bread  and  cheese,  which  we  had 
taken  yesterday  morning  from  Nakhchevan  for  a  lunch. 
Thus  we  rode  twelve  hours  continuously. 

About  11  A.  M.  we  crossed  a  fine  stream  of  water,  flow- 
ing to  the  left  toward  the  Aras,  from  a  plain  on  the  right, 


PERY-KEND.  137 

which  seemed  extremely  fertile  and  contained  a  number  of 
villages.  A  draught  from  the  river  was  the  only  refresh- 
ment we  found  here.  A  ridge  of  white  and  gray  marble 
succeeded,  and  we  entered  another  much  larger  plain, 
and  so  marshy  that  it  was  now  partly  covered  with  water. 
Here  we  reached  a  moslem  village,  called  Pery-kend,  at 
half  past  3  P.  M.  and  sought  for  lodgings.  It  was  filled 
with  Kurds,  whom  the  snow  had  driven  from  the  neighbor- 
ing mountains  to  seek  here  for  winter-quarters ;  and  for 
that  reason,  its  inhabitants  pretended,  no  good  accommoda- 
tions could  be  furnished  us.  We  had  not  yet  learned  how 
to  manage  the  inhospitality,  which  the  Persians  have  been 
taught  by  their  government  and  their  religion  to  practise 
toward  foreigners,  nor  indeed  were  we  acquainted  with 
its  nature ;  and,  being  too  fatigued  to  proceed  farther,  we 
accepted  a  dark  corner  in  a  stable,  filled  with  horses,  cows 
and  asses,  and  almost  suffocating  us  by  its  stench.  I  was 
myself,  in  fact,  reduced  to  such  weakness  by  sleeping  out 
in  the  night,  by  the  chilliness  of  the  weather,  and  so  long  a 
ride  upon  an  empty  stomach,  in  addition  to  my  previously 
enfeebled  .health,  that  even  a  resting  place  among  the  cattle 
was  acceptable. 

Dec.  5.  We  spent  a  miserable  Sabbath  at  Pery-kend. 
A  cold  rain  storm,  and  my  diseased  health  confined  me  to 
our  stable. 

Dec.  6.  Our  morning's  ride  to  Khoy  was  three  fur- 
sakhs.  When  next  able  to  take  notes,  I  could  recollect  very 
few  circumstances  respecting  it ;  and  in  fact  a  thick  mist 
enveloping  every  object,  limited  very  much  the  observations 
of  us  both.  Almost  the  whole  distance  was  a  plain,  and  at 
one  place  a  copious  spring  of  warm  salt  water  boiled  up  in 
a  small  pond  by  the  side  of  the  path.  As  we  approached 
the  city,  the  fertility  of  the  soil  increased,  cultivation  be- 
came general,  and  villages  were  frequent.  We  viewed  the 
plain  of  Khoy  under  more  advantageous  circumstances,  on 

VOL.  II.  13 


138  KHOY. 

our  return  from  Tebriz.  The  whole  basin,  inclosed  by 
the  surrounding  mountains,  is  of  great  extent.  Much  of  it 
is  broken  up  by  hills  of  a  dry  soil,  and  not  remarkable  for 
fertility ;  though  they,  as  well  as  the  mountains,  are  desti- 
tute of  the  sunburnt  and  arid  aspect  of  the  scenery  of 
Tebriz  and  of  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  and  afford,  upon  their 
sloping  sides  and  swelling  summits,  verdant  pastures  for 
flocks  and  herds.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  the  plain  is 
extremely  level,  and  watered  almost  to  excess ;  and  its  fame 
for  fertility  has  not  exceeded  the  reality.  Besides  numer- 
ous gardens  which  beautify  it,  grain  and  cotton  are  exten- 
sively cultivated. 

We  had  hardly  dismounted  at  Khoy,  before  it  was  told 
us  that  an  English  lady  had  just  arrived  from  Tebriz,  and 
taken  lodgings  in  the  same  caravanserai !  Wishing  to 
know  if  the  plague  was  still  at  that  city,  as  reported,  we 
informed  her  by  a  messenger,  who  we  were,  and  proposed 
to  call.  She  replied,  that  her  accommodations  were  too 
miserable  to  allow  her  to  receive  a  visit  without  embarrass- 
ment, and  that  she  preferred  calling  on  us.  We  had  neith- 
er chair,  nor  stool,  nor  anything  to  sit  upon, .  but  our 
carpets  spread  upon  the  floor.  We  bethought  ourselves  of 
the  frame  of  our  tandoor,  and  covering  it  with  a  cloak,  offered 
her  a  seat  upon  that.  She  proved  to  be  French,  instead  of 
English,  and  was  the  person  whom  other  travellers  have 
mentioned  as  engaged  in  instructing  the  daughters  of  the 
prince.  She  has  been  in  the  country  many  years,  some- 
times travelling  in  the  dress  of  a  man,  which  doubtless 
well  became  her. 

Dec.  7.  We  spent  the  day  at  Khoy,  and  were  almost 
confined,  by  the  cold  and  dampness  of  the  weather  and 
my  feeble  health,  to  the  caravanserai.  In  our  subsequent 
visit  we  had  a  better  opportunity  to  see  the  city.  In 
former  times,  it  belonged  to  the  Armenian  province  of 
Vasbooragan ;  now  it  is  one  of  the  cities  of  Aderbaijan. 


KHOY.    .  139 

Though  its  walls,  as  well  as  its  houses,  are  of  mud  or  un- 
burnt  bricks,  broad  and  regular  streets,  intersected  by  ca- 
nals with  shade  trees  upon  their  banks,  give  it  an  airiness 
and  regularity  unknown  in  almost  every  other  oriental  city 
I  have  seen.  It  has  a  lofty  and  well  built  bazar,  too,  that 
would  hardly  disgrace  Constantinople.  The  extreme  mois- 
ture of  the  plain,  upon  the  level  surface  of  which  it  is  situ- 
ated, combined  with  the  warmth  of  the  atmosphere  in  the 
summer  months,  must  subject  its  inhabitants  to  frequent 
fevers.  A  son  of  the  prince  royal,  named  Jihangir  Mirza, 
now  resides  here,  and  governs  for  his  father  the  district  of 
which  it  is  the  capital.  Its  moslem  population  we  heard 
estimated  at  from  4000  to  7000  families.  A  distinct  sub- 
urb contains  about  100  families  of  Armenians,  who  have 
two  churches  and  two  priests.  In  the  villages  around  are 
a  few  more,  but  nearly  all  have  emigrated  north  of  the 
Aras. 

Dec.  8.  A  tolerably  well  made  and  perfectly  straight 
road  conducted  us  from  Khoy,  for  about  two  miles  in  the 
direction  of  Tebriz,  to  the  principal  river  that  waters  the 
plain.  A  double  ditch  of  running  water  lines  each  side, 
and  waters  rows  of  the  sinjid,  or  silver-leafed  willow,  which 
form  an  avenue  the  whole  distance.  The  sinjid  is  a  com- 
mon tree  in  all  the  plains  of  Aderbaijan  which  we  visited, 
and  being  invariably  planted  along  the  margin  of  canals, 
never  failed  to  remind  us  forcibly  of  the  imagery  of  the 
first  Psalm.  It  produces  an  insipid  fruit,  resembling  the 
date  in  form,  which  abounds  in  every  bazar.  About  half 
way  from  the  city  to  the  river,  a  side  avenue  conducts  from 
the  road  to  the  country-seat  of  a  khan,  in  an  extensive 
and  luxuriant  garden  of  fruit  trees  upon  the  side  of  a  hill ; 
which  carried  our  minds  away  to  other  countries,  where 
protecting  governments  allow  private  wealth  thus  publicly 
to  exhibit  itself,  more  frequently  than  in  Persia.  The 
river  is  crossed  by  an  arched  bridge  of  stone. 


140  DELAYED    BY   SICKNESS, 

Of  these  ornaments  to  the  suburbs  of  Khoy,  however,  t 
noticed  nothing  this  morning ;  for  fog,  and  rain,  and  the 
suffering  of  disease  prevented  all  observation.  A  return  of 
fever  at  Khoy  had  increased  my  debility,  and  now  my 
strength  soon  failed.  Pain  in  my  back  made  the  motion 
of  my  horse  intolerable,  and  I  dismounted  to  walk.  Thus 
I  could  proceed  but  a  few  rods,  and  that  only  by  the  aid  of 
my  companion's  arm,  before  weakness  forced  me  to  my 
horse  again.  By  alternately  riding  and  walking,  however, 
I  succeeded  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  in  reaching  Ha- 
ji  Seid,  3  fursakhs  from  Khoy.  It  was  a  moslem  village,  at 
the  entrance  of  a  pass  in  the  mountains,  which  conducts 
to  the  lake  of  Oormiah.  A  corner  of  a  miserable  stable 
was  the  first  lodging-place  that  offered,  and  the  best  that 
the  villagers  could  be  persuaded  to  give  us.  Dirty  as  it 
was,  I  was  never  so  glad  to  reach  the  best  American  inn  ; 
nor  did  ever  a  fire  seem  more  cheerful  than  the  burning 
cow-dung  which  was  blazing  here  when  we  entered.  I 
remember  no  more,  for  a  stupor,  which  had  been  gradually 
increasing  during  the  morning's  ride,  now  completely  over- 
came me.  I  sunk  upon  the  ground,  and  remained  uncon- 
scious of  what  passed  for  two  days.  My  companion  could 
not  obtain  from  me  an  answer  to  the  simplest  questions, 
nor  had  I  the  strength  to  turn  in  bed,  if  that  name  may  be 
given  to  what  was  under  me.  It  was  a  cloak  and  a  car- 
pet laid  upon  the  ground,  and  made,  at  length,  somewhat 
softer  by  the  addition  of  some  coarse  weeds,  procured  with 
difficulty  from  our  moslem  host.  The  stench  of  the  cattle, 
which  filled  our  stable  at  night,  polluted  the  air,  and  the 
lowing  of  calves  disturbed  us.  No  motives  my  companion 
could  use  were  sufficient  to  procure  another  room,  or  even 
to  cause  the  cattle  to  be  removed  from  this.  And  such 
was  the  dread  of  ceremonial  pollution  from  Christian  con- 
tact, that  the  slightest  conveniences  and  attentions  were 
denied  us,  or  given  with  the  greatest  reluctance,     Our 


RIDE    TO    TEBRIZ.  141 

food  even  had  to  be  cooked  in  our  own  dishes,  by  our  own 
servant. 

On  awaking  from  my  stupor,  I  could  neither  walk  nor 
stand  alone  ;  but  was  free  from  fever,  and  my  first  thought 
was  to  inquire  how  we  should  escape  from  such  a  miserable 
spot.  Mr.  Dwight  had  anticipated  me,  and  already  sent  a 
messenger  to  the  English  gentlemen  at  Tebriz  for  whom 
we  had  letters,  to  inform  them  of  our  condition,  and  request 
the  aid  of  a  takhtirewan  to  convey  me  to  town.  I  hope 
never  to  forget  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Mc  Neill,  the  physician 
and  first  assistant  of  the  embassy,  upon  that  occasion.  In 
a  very  short  time  after  intelligence  of  my  illness  reached 
him,  he  entered  our  stable,  though  the  distance  was  at 
Jeast  seventy  or  eighty  miles.  The  takhtirewan  also  soon 
arrived,  as  near  as  the  mountainous  road  would  allow  it,  and 
on  the  15th,  seven  days  after  we  reached  the  village,  he 
made  arrangements  to  remove  me.  The  mountains  which 
separate  the  plain  of  Khoy  from  the  lake  of  Oormiah,  are 
at  this  point  about  two  fursakhs  broad,  and  composed 
chiefly  of  naked  sandstone  rocks,  giving  place  now  and 
then  to  small  fields  of  grain.  Our  progress  over  them  was 
slow,  and  somewhat  difficult,  owing  to  the  peculiar  con- 
struction of  my  carriage.  A  takhtirewan  resembles  a  se- 
dan chair,  except  that  it  is  carried  by  two  mules  or  horses, 
instead  of  men,  requires  a  person  to  assume  a  lying  instead 
of  a  sitting  posture,  and  is  completely  closed  from  the 
external  air.  It  is  the  only  native  carriage  known  to  the 
Persians.  Had  a  projecting  rock,  or  a  stumble  of  a 
horse  disturbed  its  balance,  I  must  have  been  overturned, 
and  perhaps  precipitated  to  a  great  distance.  A  kind 
Providence  preserved  me  from  all  accidents.  As  we  de- 
scended the  farther  side,  the  windows  were  opened  a 
moment  to  afford  me  a  view  of  the  lake  of  Oormiah :  I 
had  no  other  prospect  of  the  country  during  the  remainder 

VOL.  II.  13* 


142  KINDNESS    OF    ENGLISH  FRIENDS. 

of  our  ride  to  Tebriz.  I  might  give  you  in  this  connection, 
the  observations  of  Mr.  Dwight ;  but  I  prefer  to  postpone 
them  till  another  occasion,  when  we  both  inspected  the 
same  ground  again.  Especially  as  this,  being  the  point 
where  we  passed  beyond  the  boundaries  of  ancient  Arme- 
nia, is  a  convenient  spot  for  breaking  the  narrative.  Dr. 
Mc  Neill  passed  on  before,  leaving  orders  with  the  heads 
of  the  different  villages  to  accommodate  us  comfortably  ; 
and  we  reached  Tebriz  in  safety  on  the  18th  of  December. 
The  English  embassy  to  the  court  of  Persia,  in  order  to 
be  near  the  prince  royal,  into  whose  hands  the  Shah  has  re- 
signed the  management  of  his  foreign  relations,  has  its  seat 
at  Tebriz.  Mr.  Cartwright,  the  English  consul  general  at 
Constantinople,  had  kindly  recommended  us  by  letter  to  Col. 
Mc  Donald  the  late  embassador,  well  known  as  a  traveller 
under  the  name  of  Kinneir,  and  to  Maj.  Willock,  former 
commander  of  the  English  forces  in  Persia.  The  latter  be- 
ing in  the  country  during  the  winter,  hospitably  opened  his 
house  in  town  for  our  residence.  To  find,  after  lodging 
so  long  in  filthy  stables,  and  being  reduced  to  the  extrem- 
ity of  weakness  by  disease,  comfortable  and  well  furnished 
apartments  ready  for  our  reception  the  moment  we  arrived, 
was  more  grateful  than  can  be  conceived,  and  doubtless  con- 
tributed much  to  the  restoration  of  my  health.  For  many 
other  attentions,  Maj.  Willock,  and  his  brother  Sir  H. 
Willock,  former  charge  d'affairs,  deserve  our  sincerest  ac- 
knowledgments. Col.  Mc  Donald  had  been  taken  from  the 
world  before  we  arrived ;  but  Capt.  Campbell,  then  acting 
envoy,  treated  us  with  a  hospitality,  that  could  hardly  have 
been  exceeded  had  we  been  his  own  brothers.  He  also 
readily  facilitated  our  proceedings  in  every  thing  that  de- 
pended upon  his  official  capacity ;  and,  what  we  esteem- 
ed not  the  least  of  his  attentions,  he  opened  his  house  for 
religious  services  on  the  Sabbath,  and  took  pains  to  procure  a 
full  attendance.     Our  meetings  usually  consisted  of  nearly 


DESCRIPTION    OF    TEBRIZ.  143 

twenty  who  spoke  our  language,  and  are  among  our  most 
satisfactory  recollections  of  our  visit  to  Persia.  While  Dr. 
Mc  Neill  remained  at  Tebriz,  he  not  only  contributed  to 
the  restoration  of  my  health  by  his  medical  advice,  but  by 
his  superior  intelligence  added  much  to  our  information  of 
the  country.  Diplomatic  business  at  length  called  him  to 
Teheran  ;  and  he  was  subsequently  appointed  Resident  at 
Bushire,  one  of  the  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  Presi- 
dency of  Bombay.  After  his  departure,  Dr.  Cormick  kindly 
took  charge  of  my  health.  He  is  the  same  physician  who 
healed  Martyn  of  a  similar  disease,  when  he  was  at  this 
city  ;  and  he  seemed  to  have  retained  the  highest  opinion 
of  him,  as  a  Christian,  a  companion,  and  a  scholar.  His 
long  experience  in  the  diseases  of  the  climate  was  of  great 
utility  to  me.  Among  the  gentlemen  whose  civilities  we 
experienced  at  Tebriz,  was  Mr.  Nisbet,  an  officer  in  the 
commissariat  department,  who  together  with  his  wife  en- 
tered into  our  feelings  as  missionaries,  and  sympathised  with 
us  in  our  views  of  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  natives  of  the 
country.  In  a  word,  though  I  have  invariably  received  the 
readiest  aid  and  attention  from  English  gentlemen,  whom 
I  have  met  in  travelling,  none  have  equalled  our  friends  at 
Tebriz  in  hospitality  and  kindness. 

Tebriz  is  the  capital  of  Aderbaijan,  (called  also  Azerbai- 
jan,) the  ancient  Media  Atopatene,  and  now  one  of  the 
most  populous  and  productive  of  all  the  provinces  of  Persia. 
It  stands  at  the  head  of  a  plain,  which  extends  about  thirty 
miles  eastward  from  the  lake  of  Oormiah.  Arid  moun- 
tains, without  a  tree  or  a  particle  of  vegetation  of  any  kind, 
and  composed  of  ledges  of  rocks  or  gravelly  earth,  surround 
it  on  the  east,  and  extend  off  on  either  side  of  the  plain 
toward  the  west.  Though  externally  the  very  picture  of 
barrenness,  they  are  said  to  be  rich  in  mineral  substances ; 
and  green,  bright  red,  and  various  other  unusual  shades,  in- 
termingled with  brown,  their  prevailing  color,  convince  even 


144  DESCRIPTION    OF    TEBRIZ. 

the  distant  observer  of  the  presence  of  some  unusual  ingre- 
dients. In  iron,  copper  and  salt,  they  are  known  to 
abound.  A  mine  of  the  latter  is  wrought  not  far  from  the 
city,  and  the  river  which  descends  from  the  mountains  on 
the  east  and  flows  through  the  whole  length  of  the  plain,  is 
strongly  impregnated  with  it.  Armenian  history  pretends 
that  Tebriz,  which  it  usually  calls  the  royal  Kantsag,  was 
founded  in  A.  D.  246  by  Khosrov  First,  and  named  Ta-vrej, 
"this  revenge,''  in  memory  of  the  vengeance  he  took  upon 
Ardasheer  the  first  Sassanian,  in  driving  him  from  Persia.* 
The  Persian  geographers  assert  that  it  was  built  by  a 
wife  or  a  general  of  Haroon  el  Rasheed,  and  named  Teb- 
riz, "the  fever  scattered,"  from  its  salubrity .t  While  Stra- 
bo  contradicts  both,  by  mentioning  in  his  day  Gaza, 
(evidently  the  same  as  the  Gazakon  of  the  Byzantines, 
and  the  Kantsag  of  the  Armenians,)  as  the  royal  city  of 
Atropatia.  In  successive  ages  it  has  occasionally  fallen 
for  a  time  into  the  hands  of  the  kings  of  Armenia,  the 
emperors  of  Constantinople,  and  the  Osmanly  Sultans ;  but 
generally  it  has  belonged  to  the  rulers  of  Persia.  Though 
repeatedly  overturned  by  earthquakes,  and  destroyed  by 
wars,  it  has  as  often  resumed  a  rank  of  the  first  importance. 
In  the  time  of  the  Moghul  Hoolakoo,  Maragha  indeed 
eclipsed  it,  but  generally  it  has  been  the  capital  of  the 
surrounding  region. 

It  contains  at  present,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the 
English  residents,  about  60,000  inhabitants.  Extensive 
and  populous  suburbs  around,  seem  almost  to  form  a  part  of 
it,  as  they  probably  in  fact  once  did.  Among  them  are 
many  and  luxuriant  gardens  of  fruit  trees,  in  which  the  ap- 
ple, peach,  pear,  quince,  apricot,  almond,  and  grape  abound, 
and  contribute  to  the  abundance  and  variety  of  its  first  ba- 
zars. Numerous  canals  run  in  every  direction  to  irrigate 
them,  and  pass  the  roads  by  descending  in  tunnels,  so  as  to 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  12.  f  Chardin,  vol.  2:  p.  333. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    TEBRIZ.  145 

leave  the  level  unbroken  by  the  unevenness  of  bridges. 
The  city  itself  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  brick  and  a  fosse* 
which  present  some  appearance  of  strength.  Its  houses 
are  a  mockery  of  every  idea  of  oriental  magnificence.  In 
the  style,  to  which  we  have  found  no  exceptions  since 
entering  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  they  are  of  mud ;  built 
either  by  throwing  a  handful  of  that  material  in  a  damp 
state  irregularly  upon  another,  or  by  first  drying  it  in  the 
form  of  bricks,  and  then  arranging  it  in  regular  layers. 
The  streets,  except  where  the  English  have  made  a  few  side- 
walks, as  causeys  through  the  mud  to  each  other's  houses,  are 
unpaved.  Not  a  window  opens  toward  them,  nor  is  hard- 
ly a  house  to  be 'seen.  As  you  pass  along,  nothing  appears 
but  naked  mud  walls,  broken  now  and  then  by  an  irregular 
opening  with  a  clumsy  door.  In  some  cases  a  doorway  of 
burnt  bricks  indicates  some  attempt  at  display ;  while  fre- 
quently in  the  gardens  of  the  suburbs,  security  is  more  es- 
pecially consulted  by  making  the  door  of  one  entire  stone. 
Enter,  and  you  find  an  open  yard,  used  either  for  a  garden, 
or  a  barn-yard,  according  to  the  taste  of  the  owner.  The 
house  is  almost  invariably  of  one  story,  in  order  that  no 
one,  either  from  his  window  or  bis  terrace,  may  pry  into 
the  secrets  of  his  neighbor's  harem ;  and  generally  presents 
a  model  of  the  most  perfect  irregularity.  Room  is  added 
to  room  successively,  as  an  increase  of  wives,  of  children, 
of  servants,  or  of  horses  makes  it  necessary  to  build  great- 
er, and  all  are  scattered  separately  in  different  corners  of 
the  yard,  or  thrown  carelessly  together  so  as  to  inclose 
court  with  court,  according  as  convenience  or  chance  may 
direct. 

Aside  from  the  Ark,  an  enormous  ruined  tower  or  castle 
within  the  citadel,  and  the  splendid  and  even  magnificent 
remains  of  an  old  mosk  just  without  the  Teheran  gate,  the 
city  contains  no  public  buildings,  ancient  or  modern,  that 
can  compensate  at  all  for  the  meanness  of  its  private  dwell- 


146  DESCRIPTION    OF    TEBRIZ. 

ing  houses.  Many  of  its  raosks  cover  a  sufficient  extent 
of  ground,  but  they  exhibit  to  the  spectator  without,  hard 
ly  a  single  feature  of  beauty.  Even  the  minaret,  that  abun- 
dant and  sometimes  beautiful  ornament  of  a  Turkish  city, 
is  wanting.  We  saw  but  one  in  Tebriz,  and  that  was 
broken ;  in  the  towns  of  the  sheeies  generally,  minarets  are 
extremely  rare.  The  caravanserais  are  numerous  and  large, 
and  the  bazars  extensive  ;  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  archi- 
tecture of  any  to  attract  attention,  except  that  the  new  ba- 
zar is  spacious  and  covered  with  lofty  domes  and  arches. 
The  inhabitants  of  Tebriz,  indeed,  exhibit  peculiar  skill 
in  the  construction  of  the  dome  and  arch.  No  frames  to 
support,  or  forms  to  shape  them  are  used.  The  architect 
guided  merely  by  the  eye,  and  sticking  the  bricks  upon  each 
other  as  fast  as  they  can  be  handled,  with  nothing  to  uphold 
them  but  a  cement  which  assumes  almost  immediately  the 
•consistency  of  stone,  gives  them  a  turn  of  perfect  regularity. 
Whatever  may  once  have  been  the  reputation  of  Tebriz 
for  scattering  fevers,  it  has  it  no  longer.  Its  winters  are 
not  very  unlike  those  of  our  middle  States,  and  frosts  and 
snows  are  frequent ;  but  its  summers  are  said  to  be  extreme- 
ly sultry,  and  it  has  been  observed  that  most  English  resi- 
dents have  at  first  to  undergo  the  seasoning  of  an  interrmit- 
tent.  The  earthquakes  which  have  repeatedly  overturned 
it,  are  still  so  frequent,  that  some  of  the  best  houses  have 
apartments  built  entirely  of  wood,  for  a  refuge  from  their 
convulsions.  One  occurred  while  we  were  there,  which 
prostrated  a  wall  of  some  length. 

The  causes  that  have  ranked  Tebriz  among  the  places, 
which  have  been  proved  by  a  succession  of  ages  to  be  con- 
venient, under  almost  every  combination  of  circumstances, 
for  the  location  of  important  cities,  are  numerous.  Among 
them  doubtless  is  the  fact,  that  it  is  in  the  heart  of  a  large 
and  fruitful  region.  But  the  principal  is,  that  in  it  natural- 
ly centres  an  extensive  trade.     Its  bazars  are  very  exten- 


ITS    TRADE.  147 

give,  and  constantly  so  thronged  that  one  can  with  difficulty 
work  his  way  through  them.  Yet  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  silk  goods  wrought  from  materials  raised  in  Mazan- 
deran,  it  is  the  seat  of  no  important  manufacture ;  and 
even  they  are  all  the  work  of  domestic  looms.  Nor  do  its 
shops  generally  exhibit  any  thing  but  the  productions  of 
common  mechanics,  and  merchandise  of  inferior  value. 
Enter  the  magazines  of  its  caravanserais,  however,  and 
you  will  find  them  stored  with  the  riches  of  India  and  the 
skill  of  Europe.  It  is  as  a  thoroughfare  of  commerce  that 
Tebriz  is  distinguished.  At  nearly  equal  distances  from 
the  Indus,  the  Persian  gulf,  Constantinople,  and  the  marts 
of  Russia,  it  has  commercial  relations  with  all.  Merchan- 
dise to  the  amount  of  600,000  tomans,  (about  81,800,000,) 
passes  from  it  annually  over  the  Caspian  sea  to  Astra- 
khan. The  costly  goods  of  Kashmeer  and  the  East  are 
brought  by  its  merchants  from  the  region  of  the  Indus, 
and  exchanged  in  the  bazars  of  Constantinople  for  the 
manufactures  of  Europe,  While  some  of  the  productions 
sent  to  India  by  the  British  East  India  Company  for  the 
Persian  market,  find  their  way  hither  from  the  ports  of  the 
Persian  gulf;  and  the  productions  of  Arabia  are  brought 
from  Bagdad. 

The  whole  of  this  trade  is  in  the  hands  of  natives.  Not  a 
European  mercantile  house  exists  at  Tebriz,  nor  has  England, 
after  all  her  splendid  embassies,  to  this  moment  any  commer- 
cial treaty  with  Persia.  The  nearest  attempt  at  direct  com- 
merce with  the  country,  which  she  has  recently  made,  is 
the  appointment  of  a  consul  at  Trebizond,  with  liberty  to 
trade.  He  has  already  an  agent  at  Erzroom,  and  contem- 
plates the  establishment  of  a  branch  at  Tebriz.  Should  it 
prove  an  advantageous  channel  for  introducing  English 
manufactures,  probably  they  will  pursue  it  in  preference  to 
the  circuitous  one  now  taken.  Distance  is  in  favor  of  it,  for 
the  Tebriz  market  at  least ;  for,  while  from  Bushire  there 


148  THE    PRINCE    ROYAL,   ABBAS    MIRZA. 

is  a  land  carriage  of  1200  miles  at  an  expense  of  from  ten 
to  thirteen  tomans  the  load ;  Trebizond  is  only  about  half 
as  far,  and  the  carriage  from  thence  but  half  as  dear. 

The  unsettled  nature  of  the  Persian  government,  how- 
ever, threatens  still,  as  it  has  done  for  ages,to  deter  foreign 
merchants  from  risking  large  depots  of  merchandise  in  the 
country;  and  the  disposition,  now  so  strongly  manifested 
by  the  native  traders,  to  import  their  own  goods  from  ex- 
tensive foreign  markets  affording  the  chance  of  an  advan- 
tageous selection  from  large  assortments,  will  render  the 
success  of  any  foreign  establishment,  which  may  attempt  to 
bring  merchandise  to  them,  at  least  doubtful.  At  any  rate, 
a  mercantile  firm  that  shall  extend  its  branches  no  farther 
east  than  Trebizond  or  Erzroom,  can  expect  to  do  nothing 
in  the  Persian  trade.  For  the  merchants  of  that  country 
will  never  stop  at  a  small  magazine  in  either  of  those 
places,  so  long  as  a  little  more  time,  which  they  know  not 
how  to  value,  and  the  distance  of  a  few  hundred  miles, 
which  it  costs  them  almost  nothing  to  travel,  will  bring 
them  to  the  extensive  depots  of  Constantinople,  which  have 
so  long  furnished  them  with  goods  to  the  amount  of  many 
hundred  thousand  tomans  annually. 

The  principal  circumstance  that  has  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Europeans  toward  Tebriz,  is  its  having  been  for 
many  years  the  residence  of  Abbas  Mirza,  the  prince  roy- 
al of  Persia.  Such  flattering  accounts  were  given  by  trav- 
ellers of  his  talents  and  liberality,  when  he  first  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  public  life,  that  the  world  expected  from  him 
important  reforms  to  improve  the  political,  if  not  the  religi- 
ous condition  of  his  countrymen.  He  was  marching  with 
his  army  to  a  distant  part  of  the  empire  during  our  visit,  and 
we  had  no  oportunity  to  see  him.  The  accounts  we  heard 
of  him,  however,  disappointed  us  much.  In  regard  to  many 
European  innovations,  indeed,  he  excels  his  countrymen 
in  that  freedom  from  prejudice,  by  which  many  of  them  are 


HIS    GOVERNMENT.  149 

distinguished  from  the  Turks.  His  religious  views,  too, 
are  liberal,  and  his  practice  tolerant.  But  with  his  liberali- 
ty, he  is  also  immoral,  indulging  in  drinking  and  other  spe- 
cies of  dissipation.  So  long  as  he  had  an  able  prime  minis- 
ter, his  defects,  as  a  ruler,  were  less  apparent.  But  now,  not 
only  does  he  show  himself  possessed  of  the  most  perfect  du- 
plicity, but  of  a  weakness  which  places  him  under  the 
control  of  an  unprincipled  man,  who  has  only  to  intoxicate 
him,  to  carry  the  most  unwelcome  point. 

With  the  characteristic  avarice  of  his  family,  he  mak«s 
the  heaviest  exactions  from  his  province  that  can  be  borne, 
and  adopts  arbitrary  and  objectionable  modes  of  collecting 
them.  We  met  at  Tebriz  Jaafer  Kooly  khan,  a  chief  of 
the  powerful  tribe  of  Afshars,  and  one  of  the  first  of  the 
Persian  nobility,  who  had  been  deposed  from  the  office  of 
governor  of  Maragha,  which  he  had  long  held,  merely  be- 
cause another  had  offered  a  larger  tribute  than  he  was  pay- 
ing or  would  pay.  In  other  instances  also  has  he  virtually 
sold  similar  stations  to  the  highest  bidder.  The  officers 
under  him  are  not  restrained  from  flagrant  abuses.  It 
was  reported,  at  the  time  of  our  visit,  that  the  governor  of 
Tebriz  had  leagued  with  the  principal  thieves  in  town  for 
a  share  of  their  booty.  Justice  is  known  to  be  perfectly 
venial.  A  gentleman  informed  us  that  he  once,  for  an  ex- 
periment, brought  a  cause  before  the  chief  judge.  For  his 
gratification  or  to  pay  him  for  his  trouble,  in  compliance 
with  the  customs  of  the  country,  a  small  present  was  giv- 
en ;  but  the  opposite  party  offered  higher,  and  the  gentle- 
man's claims  were  negatived.  In  a  word,  moral  principle, 
political  uprightness,  and  the  rights  of  the  subject,  are  sub- 
jected to  the  dictates  of  sensuality,  ambition  and  avarice. 
And  none,  permit  me  to  add,  but  those  whom  skepticism 
leads  to  forget  the  benefits  that  Christianity  confers  up- 
on man,  ought  ever  to  have  expected   any  other  result, 

VOL.  II.  14 


150  GOVERNMENT    OF    ABBAS    MIRZA. 

under  the  influence  of  the  false  and  corrupt  religion  of 
Mecca. 

The  prince  has  indeed  long  succeeded  in  preserving  the 
public  peace  in  his  province.  Open  robbery,  with  occa- 
sional exceptions  on  the  borders  of  the  Kurdish  mountains, 
is  unknown ;  and  the  persons  and  property  of  foreigners 
are  perfectly  safe.  Cut  it  is  an  interesting  question,  wheth- 
er the  death  of  the  Shah  may  not,  any  day,  break  up  all  the 
foundations  of  public  order  and  security.  The  order  of 
succession  has  hitherto  been  so  perfectly  unsettled  in  Per- 
sia, that  at  the  death  of  a  Shah,  whoever  is  strong  enough 
hesitates  not  to  aspire  to  the  throne ;  and  upon  such  occa- 
sions, rival  parties  have  often  imbrued  their  hands  in  each* 
other's  blood,  and  brought  upon  the  nation  all  the  evils  of 
complete  anarchy.  In  the  present  instance,  the  size  of  the 
royal  family  makes  the  number  of  candidates  unusually 
large.  Abbas  has  the  advantage  of  all  the  others,  in  hav- 
ing been  nominated  to  the  succession  by  his  father,  secured 
in  it,  as  is  understood,  by  a  treaty  with  Russia,  and 
entrusted  for  a  long  time  with  the  organization  of  the 
whole  regular  army  of  the  realm.  But  an  army  is  of  little 
use,  when  want  of  punctuality  in  payment  estranges  its 
affections  from  its  leader,  as  is  said  to  be  the  case  with  his. 
The  Russians  would  perhaps  not  hinder  an  insurrection, 
that  might  give  them  occasion  to  interfere,  and  .pick  some 
of  the  richest  jewels  from  the  crown  they  disposed  of.  And 
as  to  the  father's  wishes,  few  of  his  sons,  probably,  will 
regard  them,  after  death  shall  have  stripped  him  of  his 
power. 


LETTER  XVIII. 

TEBRIZ. 

Number  and  political  condition  of  the  Armenians  of  Tebriz — Their  moral 
character — Their  education — Festival  of  the  Purification — Bishop  Israel 
— His  preaching — Conversation  with  him — Armenian  way  of  salvation — 
Moslems  of  Aderbaijan  not  of  the  Persian  race— Persian  civility,  and 
falsehood — Slight  prejudices  against  European  customs,  with  high  ideas 
of  ceremonial  purity — Fondness  for  religious  discussion,  with  bigotry  or 
skepticism. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  already  informed  you,  upon  the  authority  of  the 
ex-bishop  of  Aderbaijan,  that,  at  the  close  of  the  late  war, 
9000  Armenian  families  emigrated  from  this  province  to 
the  Russian  territories.  He  also  assured  us,  that  there 
remained  behind  2500  families,  and  that  50  or  60  families 
of  the  emigrants  had  returned;  and  I  am  inclined  to  credit 
him,  rather  than  the  present  bishop  at  Tebriz,  who  declared 
that  there  are  now  not  a  thousand  Armenian  families  in 
the  province.  The  number  of  families  of  that  nation  in 
the  city  itself,  is  not  greater  than  60  or  70.  They  have  a 
church,  which  is  served  by  four  priests. 

The  political  condition  of  the  Armenians  of  Tebriz  is 
peculiar.  When  the  prince  found  so  many  of  their  nation 
inclined,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
protection  of  Russian  laws  by  emigration,  he  promised 
all  who  would  remain,  the  privilege  of  an  English  governor. 
Maj.  Hart,  who  then  commanded  the  English  forces  here, 
was  consequently  appointed  to  that  office;  and  was  clothed, 
for  their  government  and  protection,  with  very  extensive 


152 


ARMENIANS    OF    TEBRIZ. 


powers,  which  the  prince  has  always  held  inviolable.  Upon 
the  decease  of  that  gentleman,  in  1830,  Dr.  Cormick  was 
prevailed  upon,  by  the  solicitations  of  the  people,  I  believe, 
as  well  as  by  the  request  of  the  prince,  to  accept  the  ap- 
pointment. He  held  it  while  we  were  there,  and  however 
much  he  was  troubled  by  the  bad  conduct  of  the  Armeni- 
ans, he  never  complained  of  want  of  countenance  from  the 
prince,  in  protecting  them  from  moslem  oppression  and 
abuse.  His  authority  did  not  extend  beyond  the  city.  So 
well  convinced,  indeed,  is  the  prince  of  the  value  of  his 
Armenian  subjects,  that,  besides  this  important  privilege,  he 
also  takes  pains  to  keep  their  priests  in  his  interest.  That 
he  gives  them  a  regular  salary,  we  were  assured  is  not 
true;  but  they  occasionally  receive  from  him  suits  of 
clothing,  and  other  valuable  presents. 

Of  the  moral  character  of  the  Armenians  of  Tebriz,  we 
received  the  worst  impression.  Their  priests  are  unprinci- 
pled hirelings,  and  besides  other  irregularities  are  given  to 
much  wine.  The  people  are  accused  of  the  basest  ingrati- 
tude. The  English,  out  of  regard  to  their  professing  the 
same  religion,  have  always  done  much  to  protect  them,  but 
have  received  no  thanks.  Particularly  did  they,  when  the 
Russians  were  marching  upon  Tebriz,  take  many  into  their 
families  as  servants,  merely  to  defend  their  lives  from  the 
rage  of  the  moslems,  who  suspected  them  of  acting  as  spies. 
Letters  from  these  same  persons  were  afterward  intercept- 
ed, declaring  to  the  Russians  that  they  would  have  helped 
them  to  enter  the  city  much  sooner,  had  not  the  English 
prevented  their  giving  the  proper  information.  One  day, 
we  were  informed,  the  Jcaim-maMm,  (lieutenant  of  the 
prince)  warned  the  embassador  to  caution  the  English  to 
keep  all  their  servants  within  doors,  as  every  other  Arme- 
nian was  to  be  slain  that  night.  Not  only  was  the  caution 
given,  but  English  sergeants  were  stationed  as  sentinels  at 
all  the  avenues  to  the  Armenian  quarter,  to  prevent  the 


THEIR  MORAL  CHARACTER.  153 

massacre,  and  the  next  day  a  promise  was  obtained  from 
the  kaim-makam  that  they  should  not  be  touched.  And 
yet  they  conducted  themselves,  after  the  entrance  of  the 
Russians,  in  such  a  manner,  that  to  avoid  their  insolence 
was  one  reason  why  the  English  left  the  city.  Without 
having  a  doubt  that  the  Armenians  are  capable  of  all  the 
ingratitude  implied  in  this  statement,  it  is  a  question  wheth- 
er the  fact,  that  the  English  could  not  but  be  regarded  as 
aiming  expressly  to  uphold  the  power  of  their  oppressors, 
which  the  Russians  were  endeavoring  to  humble,  might 
not  naturally  make  them  its  victims.  In  dishonesty  they 
are  even  below  the  moslems.  For  want  of  a  better  Arme- 
nian servant,  we  were  forced  to  engage  one  who  was 
known  to  have  stolen  his  master's  carpets  when  the  Rus- 
sians entered  Tebriz,  and  who,  according  to  his  own  con- 
fession, had  regularly  overcharged  his  market  bills  to  the 
amount  of  four  or  five  tomans,  (about  $12  or  $15,)  a  month. 
His  former  employer  assured  us,  that  he  could  give  no  bet- 
ter character  to  five  or  six  other  Armenians  who  had  served 
him ;  and  the  oldest  English  resident  in  the  place  thought 
that,  considering  the  habits  of  his  countrymen,  we  ought 
not  for  such  conduct  to  reject  him. 

Faithfulness  to  the  charge  imposed  upon  me  demands  a 
word  upon  another  point  of  moral  character,  which  I  would 
willingly  leave  concealed  in  the  dark  parts  of  the  earth, 
where  it  is  so  grossly  developed.  Concubinage  may  be  prac- 
tised in  other  countries,  by  such  as  are  cast  out  of  the  pale  of 
all  decent  society,  without  implicating  the  moral  healthiness 
of  public  sentiment.  But  here  it  exists  under  circumstan- 
ces, which  plainly  show  the  mass  of  the  Armenian  community 
to  be  infected  with  its  corrupting  influence.  Public  opinion 
does  not  frown  upon  it.  Parents  even  sell  their  daughters 
into  concubinage;  and  not  only,  we  were  assured,  are 
these  victims  of  lust  admitted  to  the  communion  and  the 
other  privileges  of  the  church,  as   good   Christians,  but 

VOL.  II.  14* 


154 


ARMENIAN    EDUCATION   AT  TEBRIZ. 


their  priests  have  been  found  to  share  in  the  gain.  This 
sad  state  of  morals  does  not  exist  among  the  Armenians 
of  Tebriz  alone.  In  Erzroom,  Erivan,  and  Nakhchevan, 
Armenian  parents  have  been  known  to  sell  their  daugh- 
ters, for  the  same  criminal  purpose,  for  a  limited  time. 
The  opinion  was  expressed  to  us  by  a  Christian  observer, 
that  polygamy  even,  though  not  common,  exists  among 
the  Armenians.  He  believed,  though  he  knew  of  no 
instance,  that  priests  might  be  induced  by  money  to 
marry  a  man  a  second  time,  knowing  that  he  had  already 
one  wife;  and  that  the  connivance  of  the  bishops  might  be 
secured  by  the  same  means. 

We  had  been  informed  at  Nakhchevan,  by  the  former 
bishop,  that  the  Armenians,  before  their  emigration,  had 
nothing  in  the  whole  province  of  Aderbaijan  deserving  the 
name  of  school ;  only  a  few  children  being  here  and  there 
taught  to  read.  The  same  statement  was  confirmed  at 
Tebriz,  in  reference  to  their  present  condition ;  with  the 
additional  fact,  that  not  only  are  the  common  people 
extremely  ignorant,  but  many  even  of  their  leaders  have 
not  the  knowledge  of  letters.  In  Tebriz,  Mr.  Nisbet  had 
recently  made  a  benevolent  effort  to  procure  the  establish- 
ment of  a  school.  Promises  were  obtained  of  a  house  for 
the  teacher  and  school,  of  thirty  or  forty  scholars  at  from 
half  a  toman  to  two  tomans  per  annum,  and  occasional 
presents  of  grain  and  the  like.  Fifty  or  sixty  tomans,  near- 
ly enough  for  the  teacher's  salary,  were  thus  pledged,  and 
Mr.  Nisbet  engaged  to  aid  in  supplying  the  deficiency. 
He  applied  to  the  missionaries  at  Shoosha  for  a  teacher, 
and  no  prejudices  were  manifested  against  receiving  one 
from  that  quarter.  There  seemed  to  be  even  a  willingness 
to  concede,  that  the  Scriptures  alone  should  be  made  the 
standard  of  the  religious  instructions  to  be  given.  But  just 
as  the  necessary  documents  were  about  to  be  signed,  the 
cholera  broke  out,  and  diminished   and  scattered  the  in- 


FESTIVAL    OF  THE  PURIFICATION.  155 

habitants,  and  the  project  had  not  been  resumed.  We 
applied  to  their  present  English  governor  to  know  how  he 
would  regard  a  missionary  school  for  the  Armenians,  and 
were  gratified  to  receive  a  full  expression,  not  only  of  his 
own  opinion  of  its  desirableness  and  prospect  of  utility,  but 
also  of  his  decided  belief,  that  no  prejudices  against  it 
would  be  felt  by  either  laity  or  clergy. 

On  the  25th  of  Febuary,  (13th  of  Feb.  old  style,)  being 
informed  that  an  important  ceremony  was  to  be  performed 
in  the  church,  we  attended  at  the  hour  of  evening  prayer. 
In  the  yard  before  the  main  door,  a  concourse  of  people 
stood  around  a  quadrangular  space,  in  the  centre  of  which 
was  a  pile  of  dry  brushwood.  A  priest  read  service  upon 
the  door-step,  while  a  man  by  his  side  enforced  silence  upon 
a  parcel  of  boys,  by  an  occasional  box  on  the  ear.  Oppo- 
site these  officiators  sat  a  bishop  in  state,  with  a  vartabed 
or  two  by  his  side.  A  plate  for  contributions,  filled  with 
wax  tapers,  was  circulated  among  the  crowd,  and  each  one 
as  he  put  in  his  money  took  out  a  taper,  which  was  soon 
lighted.  The  bishop,  supported  by  two  vartabeds  and  a 
number  of  priests,  repeated  a  prayer  on  the  four  sides  of  the 
brushwood  ;  then,  after  a  word  of  exhortation,  the  by-stand- 
ers,  especially  the  boys,  pitching  over  each  other,  plunged 
their  tapers  into  it,  and  it  was  soon  in  a  blaze.  While 
prayers  were  still  chanted  over  it,  some  relighted  their  ta- 
pers at  the  risk  of  being  scorched,  others  scattered  about 
the  burning  brands,  one  leaped  through  the  blaze,  and  all 
seemed  in  the  highest  glee.  It  was  the  eve  of  the  Purifi- 
cation of  the  Virgin  ;  and  with  such  profane  mockeries  do 
the  Armenians  generally  introduce  that  festival.  In  some 
places  the  fire  is  built  within  the  church. 

You  will  perceive,  that,  as  the  virgin,  according  to  the 
laws  of  Moses,  must  have  presented  herself  for  purification 
forty  days  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  the  Armenians  do  not 
agree  with  either  the  Latins  or  Greeks,  in  the  time  of  eel- 


156  BISHOP    ISRAEL. 

ebrating  the  nativity  of  our  Savior.  They  have  in  fact  re- 
tained the  custom,  which  anciently  prevailed  extensively  in 
the  east,  of  observing  Christmas  on  the  6th  of  January.* 
The  baptism  of  Christ  is  also  celebrated  on  the  same  day, 
and  in  token  of  it  a  cross,  to  which  they  conceive  the  Sa- 
vior to  be  inseparably  united  by  its  consecration,  is  plunged 
in  water  previously  blessed,  with  much  pomp  and  ceremo- 
ny. In  regard  to  most  of  the  great  festivals,  not  connect- 
ed with  Christmas,  the  Armenian  calendar  agrees  with  the 
Greek. 

The  bishop  who  officiated  on  this  occasion,  we  met  sev- 
eral times  during  our  delay  at  Tebriz.  His  name  was 
Israel.  He  was  formerly  bishop  of  Albagh,  a  small  district 
in  the  Kurdish  mountains  between  Salmas  and  Joolamerk, 
which,  under  the  name  of  Aghpag,  was  formerly  a  canton 
in  the  Armenian  province  of  Gorjaik.  The  convent  which 
he  occupied  bears  the  name  of  the  apostle  Bartholomew, 
who,  if  we  may  believe  Armenian  tradition,  was  martyred 
on  the  spot  where  it  stands.t  He  was  offended  at  the 
efforts  of  the  Russians  to  induce  the  Armenians  to  emi- 
grate, and  seems  to  have  obtained  the  deserted  bishopric 
of  Aderbaijan  as  his  reward ;  for  he  assured  us  that  he  wag 
now  sole  bishop  of  the  whole  province.  Though  his  man- 
ners partook  of  Kurdish  roughness,  we  were  glad  to  learn 
that  he  maintains  a  good  private  character,  and  is  not  op- 
posed to  the  improvement  of  his  people.  Vivian's  Three 
Dialogues,  lately  printed  at  Moscow  for  the  German  mis- 

*  A  Syrian  writer  quoted  by  Asseman  says,  that  in  the  eastern  and 
northern  provinces,  the  nativity  of  Christ,  as  well  as  his  baptism  and  the 
Epiphany,  was  celebrated  on  the  6th  of  January  until  the  time  of  Arcadius. 
And  another  says  that  the  former  festival  was  transferred  to  the  25th  of 
December,  in  accommodation  to  a  heathen  festival,  which  was  celebrated  on 
that  day,  and  which  many  of  the  Christians  were  invited  and  inclined  to 
attend.    Bib.  Orient,  vol.  2:  p.  164. 

t  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  177. 


HIS    PREACHING.  157 

sionaries,  was  circulated  among  his  flock  while  we  were 
here,  with  his  approbation ;  and  his  treatment  of  us  was 
always  friendly,  and  destitute  of  any  sign  of  jealousy.     We 
found  few  ecclesiastics  better  acquainted  with  the  doctrines 
and  ceremonies  of  the  church,  and  his  readiness  to  commu- 
nicate furnished  us  with  considerable  accurate  information. 
There  was  a  tinge  of  Romanism  about  it,  however,  which 
made  us  suspect  that  he  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  some  papal 
emissary.     Though  exact  in  his  knowledge  of  canonical 
doctrines  and  ceremonies,  his  ignorance  of  every  evangel- 
ical idea  seemed  complete;  and  he  exhibited,  with  unusual 
candor,  that  pharisaical  state  of  mind,  which  the  religion  of 
the  oriental  and  papal  churches  tends  so  strongly  to  create. 
He  had,  at  a  previous  interview,  invited  us  to  attend  mass 
at  his  church,  and  we  accordingly  went  the  next  morning 
after  the  ceremony  just  described.     Observing  us  soon  after 
we  entered,  he  invited  us  to  a  position  next  himself,  by  the 
platform  in  front  of  the  altar  designed  for  the  officiators  at 
morning  and  evening  prayers.     He  is  distinguished  among 
his  brethren  for  preaching,  and,  either  in  compliance  with 
his  own  disposition,  or  to  gratify  us,  who  had  had  one  or  two 
conversations  with  him  on  this  important  duty  of  the  clergy, 
he  gave  us  a  sermon  this  morning  between  prayers  and  the 
mass.     In  the  absence  of  a  pulpit,  a  chair  was  placed  for 
him  in  front  of  the  altar,  and  a  rich  carpet  spread  before  it. 
Chairs  were  also  offered  to  us,  but  we  declined  them,  and 
took  our  seat  among  the  audience  on  the  floor.     His  sub- 
ject  was   the   proper   observance   of  the   fasts ;    and  his 
thoughts  were  probably  unpremeditated,  and  of  little  value. 
But  his  manner  was  striking.     He  commenced  sitting,  and 
that  seemed  the  posture  which  he  chose  to  maintain,  but 
the  animation  of  delivery  frequently  called  him  upon  his 
feet,   and  urged   him    forward  to  the  edge  of  his  carpet, 
with  a  fine  effect.     No  tone  marred  his  enunciation,  nor 
any  stiffness  his  gestures.     It  was  nature  that  spoke  and 


158  CONVERSATION  WITH  BISHOP    ISRAEL. 

acted ;  and  nature  indeed  in  too  undisguised  a  form  except 
for  these  regions.  Violent  actions ;  varied,  often  high 
keyed  and  passionate  tones ;  and  significant  contortions  of 
the  countenance,  expressed  his  sentiments  more  clearly  than 
the  words  he  uttered,  and  would  have  astounded  a  more 
polite  audience,  as  the  ravings  of  madness.  But  here, 
where  every  man  is  accustomed  from  infancy  to  be  kicked 
and  flogged  into  his  duty,  all  was  in  place,  and  was  needed. 
He  took  occasion  in  his  remarks  to  reprove  the  boys  who 
had  sported  with  the  bonfire  yesterday,  by  accusing  them 
of  bringing  upon  their  church  the  ridicule  of  the  foreigners 
who  were  present ;  and,  as  if  unable  otherwise  to  express 
his  feelings,  he  actually  spat  at  them  in  contempt.  All  his 
violence  of  action,  however,  failed  of  fixing  the  attention  of 
his  audience.  The  women  were  repeatedly  engaged  in 
loud  talk  ;  once,  conversation  seemed  to  be  general  through- 
out the  house  ;  and  the  boys,  stationed  near  the  altar  for 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  performance  of  prayers,  mani- 
fested such  a  constant  disposition  to  play,  that  he  was  once 
constrained  to  order  them,  in  a  rage,  to  be  silenced  by 
flogging.  This  was  the  only  Armenian  sermon  we  had  an 
opportunity  to  attend,  and  in  fact  the  only  one  we  heard  of, 
except  at  Shoosha,  during  our  whole  journey. 

The  bishop  invited  us,  during  prayers,  to  take  a  cup  of 
tea  with  him ;  and  after  sermon,  which  was  rather  long, 
we  followed  him  to  his  rooms.  In  passing  out  of  the  door, 
he  stopped  a  moment  to  say  a  prayer  over  two  corpses,  that 
were  laid  there  in  preparation  for  burial.  The  ceremony 
was  ended  by  placing  an  unconsecrated  wafer  upon  the 
head  of  each.  The  information  elicited  by  our  conversa- 
tion this  morning,  and  by  several  others  which  we  had  with 
the  bishop,  is  given  in  different  connections  elsewhere,  and 
need  not  be  repeated.  At  our  first  interview,  however, 
some  topics  were  discussed  worthy  of  a  distinct  notice. 
We  were  introduced  to  him,  by  Mr.  Nisbet,  as  priests 


CONVERSATION    WITH    BISHOP  ISRAEL.  159 

from  the  New  World  ;  and  his  curiosity  immediately  suges- 
ted  many  questions  respecting  our  ecclesiastical  polity  and 
doctrines.  We  replied  that  we  belonged  to  the  American 
church;  acknowledged  no  subjection  to  the  pope;  and 
were  under  none  of  the  churches  of  the  Old  World.  He 
inquired  whether  we  had  bishops  of  our  own;  and  on 
learning  that,  though  there  are  a  few  in  the  country, 
most  of  the  people  are  not  subject  to  them,  he  wondered 
where  our  priests  could  get  ordination.  We  informed  him 
that  an  assembly  of  priests  performs  the  ceremony ;  and 
met  his  astonishment  at  the  irregularity  of  such  a  course, 
and  his  inquiry  how  priests  can  make  priests,  by  asking, 
if  bishops,  in  his  church,  can  make  a  Catholicos  who  is 
greater  than  they,  why  cannot  priests  make  a  priest,  who  is 
their  equal?  In  this  case  only,  during  our  journey,  was 
such  an  objection  made  by  an  Armenian  to  our  clerical 
orders,  and  our  answer  silenced,  if  it  did  not  satisfy,  the 
objector.  In  other  cases  surprise  that  we  have  only  priests 
and  deacons,  was  uniformly  removed  by  a  reference  to 
the  commonly  acknowledged  fact,  that  in  the  Armenian 
church  all  above  deacons  belong  to  the  general  order  of 
priests.  The  idea  of  apostolical  succession  we  never 
heard  started,  except  as  implied  in  the  question  of  the 
bishop  upon  this  occasion. 

He  seemed  reluctant  to  believe  that  we  were  not  papists, 
and  assured  some  of  the  company,  even  after  we  had  ex- 
pressed in  strong  language  our  abhorrence  of  the  pope,  that 
we  were  connected  with  the  Romish  church.  While  we 
were  protesting  against  such  a  mis-apprehension  of  our 
sentiments,  a  visitor,  who  seemed  better  acquainted  with 
western  theology  than  his  bishop,  inquired  whether  we 
were  Lutherans  or  Calvinists.  We  consented  to  bear  the 
latter  name ;  and  still  the  bishop,  unable  to  conceive  that 
we  should  not  belong  to  some  sect  within  the  range  of  his 
polemic  theology,  went  on  to  ask  if  we  were  not  followers 


160  ARMENIAN    WAY    OF   SALVATION. 

of  Arius,    or  Nestorius.      We  reminded  him,   that  after 
what  we  had  said  in   a  previous  part  of  the  conversation 
respecting  the  divinity  of  Christ,  he  might  have  omitted  the 
name  of  Arius ;  and  as  to  Nestorius,  we  had  no  connection 
with  him  and  no  acquaintance  with  his  sect.     Not  content- 
ed with  our  bare  assertion,  he  plied  us  with  questions  about 
the  virgin,  and  was  at  once  convinced,  by  our  lax  notions 
respecting  her  perpetual  virginity,  that  we  had  imbibed  the 
heresy  of  Nestorius.     We  explained,  that  it  was  a  point  to 
which  we  attached  no  importance,    and  that,  so  far  as  we 
knew,  it  had  never  been  agitated  among  us.     '  Why,'  said 
he,   with  great  astonishment,  '  you  are  priests !  what  have 
you  to  preach  about  when  points  like  this  are  deemed  un- 
important 1 '    '  The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  gospel,'  we 
replied,  '  the  death  of  Christ  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and 
the  way  of  salvation  through  him.     Certainly  that  is  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  preached.'   We  then  proposed 
to  him  the  direct  question,  4  What  must  we  do  to  be  saved? ' 
He    answered,   as   if  we  had    asked  a   very   unnecessary 
question,  '  Why,  we  are  saved  already,  and  need  only  con- 
fess, do  penance,  and  commune,  and  we  shall  go  to  heav- 
en ! ' — His  conversation  assumed  this  argumentative  char- 
acter, only  at  our  first  interview ;  for  at  the  next  we  directly 
declined   all  dispute,  and  he  thus  expressed  his  own   ab- 
horrence of  it.    '  You  see,'  said  he,  pointing  to  the  colored 
glass  in  the  window  of  his  apartment,  '  the  rays  of  light, 
by  passing  through  different  panes,  are  cast  in  shades  of 
red  and  green  and  yellow  upon  the  floor,  and  yet  they  all 
come  from  the  same  sun,  and  are  light  still ;  so  with  the 
different  sects,  they  all  have  one  origin,  and  ought  to  feel 
that  they  are  still  Christian  brethren.' 

The  reply  of  the  bishop  to  the  momentous  question, 
1  What  must  we  do  to  be  saved  1 '  was  dictated  by  the  doc- 
trines of  his  church ;  and  is,  in  susbtance,  the  same  that  is 
received  by  every  one  who  goes  to  confess  his  sins  in  the 


ARMENIAN    WAY    OF    8ALVATION.  161 

ear  of  his  priest.  Let  us  examine  it  in  detail.  The  sins 
from  which  we  need  to  be  saved,  are  considered  to  be  off  two 
general  kinds,  original  and  actual  Adam's  faJl  brought 
all  his  posterity  under  the  dominion  of  Satan,  to  be  led 
captive  by  him  at  his  will.  From  this  original  sin.  or  in 
other  words,  this  captivity  to  Satan,  the  consequence  of  the 
first  transgression,  Christ  died  to  deliver  us.  The  medium 
appointed  for  the  application  of  this  salvation  to  individuals, 
is  baptism.  All  who  are  baptized,  therefore,  are  saved 
from  the  Satanic  dominion  brought  upon  them  by  the  orig- 
inal sin  of  Adam,  and  left  at  liberty  to  work  out  their  sal- 
vation by  serving  God,  or  to  secure  their  destruction  by 
serving  Satan,  acccording  to  their  own  voluntary  choice. 

But  if,  after  having  thus  received  our  share  of  the  salva- 
tion of  Christ,  we  choose  again  the  service  of  Satan  by  the 
commission  of  actual  sin,  what  can  we  do  to  be  saved? 
We  are  directed,  not  to  the  intercession  of  our  -Advocate 
with  the  Father,'  nor  to  his  blood,  which  '  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin;'  but  to  the  confessional  of  the  priest,  and  to 
his  absolution.  Without  confession,  no  forgiveness  is  to  be 
expected ;  but  with  it,  it  is  sure  upon  two  conditions. 
Hearty  contrition  for  having  committed  the  sins  confessed 
is  one,  and  making  satisfaction  or  amends  for  them  is  the 
other.  The  former,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  almost  universally 
little  insisted  on  by  the  priests,  and  neglected  by  the  peo- 
ple. In  prescribing  the  appropriate  satisfaction  for  partic- 
ular sins,  lies  all  the  difficulty  which  the  confess :r  experi- 
ences in  the  cure  of  souls.  To  aid  him.  sins  are  divided 
into  mortal,  and  venial.  The  former  are  embraced  under 
seven  general  classes,  viz.  sins  of  pride,  envv,  anger,  sloth, 
covetousness,  gluttony  and  lasciviousness  :  and  are  consid- 
ered as  deserving  the  eternal  punishment  of  hell.  The 
latter  are  not  so  exactly  enumerated,  and  are  deemed  na 
fatal  to  the  soul.     The  kinds  of  satisfaction,  too,  thouo-h 

TOL.  II.  15 


162  ARMENIAN   WAY    OF    SALVATION. 

many,  are  carefully  arranged  into  three  classes,  viz.  fast* 
ing,  prayer,  and  charity. 

In  view  of  this  code  of  crimes  and  punishments,  which, 
in  the  books  of  the  church,  is  subdivided  and  explained 
with  all  the  minuteness  of  a  civil  statute-book,  the  priest 
sits  in  judgment  upon  the  sins  confessed,  and  condemns 
the  penitent  to  whichsoever  kind  of  satisfaction  seems  their 
most  appropriate  retribution  and  best  antidote ;  and  propor- 
tions the  length  of  the  fasts,  the  number  of  prayers,  or  the 
amount  of  charity,  to  their  enormity.  The  effect  of  this 
satisfaction,  or  penance,  is  supposed,  in  theory,  to  be  three 
fold:  to  give  evidence  of  sincere  contrition  for  sin;  to 
chasten  and  correct  the  evil  propensities  from  which  sin 
originates ;  and  to  be  acccepted  by  God  as  a  substitute  for 
the  retribution  of  eternal  torment  in  hell.  In  practice,  it 
degenerates  into  a  set  of  mere  external  heartless  observ- 
ances. The  priest,  having  thus  sat  in  judgment  upon  the 
sins  of  his  fellow,  and  sentenced  him  to  a  mock  retribution, 
ends  his  impious  assumption  of  the  prerogatives  of  God,  by 
pronouncing  pardon  and  the  absolution  of  all  connection 
between  the  sinner  and  the  guilt  of  his  sins.*  This  act  of 
absolution  declares  the  penitent  to  be  again  made  capable 
of  enjoying  the  benefit  of  his  good  works,  and  he  starts 
afresh  to  merit  heaven,  by  fasting,  alms-giving,  pilgrimages, 
masses,  the  communion,  and  other  similar  ceremonies. 

Such  is  a  brief,  but  tolerably  complete  view  of  what 
the  Armenians  are  told  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  It  is 
not  a  system  of  salvation  by  grace  in  Christ,  for  it  looks  not 
to  him  for  pardon ;  nor  of  salvation  by  good  works,  for  it 
depends  not  upon  morality  for  acceptance  with  God  ;  but  of 
salvation  by  ceremonies,  for  it  makes  the  observance  of  su- 
perstitious rites  a  set-off  against  a  life  of  sin.     It  neglects 

*  In  this  account  of  the  Armenian  way  of  salvation,  I  have  closely  fol- 
lowed the  Armeno-Turkish  Catechism,  already  repeatedly  quoted.     See  p. 

55*86. 


PERSIANS    OF    ADERBAIJAN.  163 

equally  the  law  and  the  gospel,  and  would  send  men  to 
heaven  without  an  atonement,  and  without  morality.  In 
one  respect,  however,  the  Armenian  church  is  behind  the 
papal,  in  its  attempts  to  work  out  a  way  to  heaven  of  its 
own  contriving.  It  has  never  devised  any  great  reservoir 
of  the  superogatory  merits  of  Christ  and  the  saints,  the  key 
of  which  is  lodged  with  an  earthly  vicegerent  of  heaven, 
empowered  to  dole  them  out  at  pleasure  to  whomsoever  is 
so  rich  or  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  his  favor.  In  other 
words,  it  knows  nothing  of  the  whole  system  of  indul- 
gences. 

It  did  not  enter  into  our  plan  to  make  many  inquiries  re- 
specting the  Persians,  nor  do  I  deem  it  important  to  publish 
all  that  we  actually  learned  respecting  them.  You  may 
wonder,  indeed,  that  I  call  the  mo&lems  of  this  province 
Persians ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  the  Kurds  on  the  west 
and  south,  they  are  all  of  the  Turkish  race,  and  speak  the 
Turkish  tongue.  A  few  at  Tiirkman-chai,  in  the  direction 
of  Teheran,  though  they  have  now  no  connection  with  their 
brethren  farther  east,  have  retained  the  particular  name  of 
Turkman.  The  rest  are  of  the  same  mixed  descent,  from  all 
the  Turkish  tribes  that  have  overrun  this  region  since  the 
days  of  Toghrul,  as  those  to  whom  your  attention  has  been 
already  directed  to  the  north  of  the  Aras,  and  they  speak 
the  same  dialect  of  Turkish.  Persian  is  spoken  by  none, 
except  as  a  foreign  language. — But  you  must  remember 
that  Persia  is  inhabited  by  a  '  mingled  people,'  and  the  title 
of  Mulook-el-lawaif,  or  kings  of  the  nations,  once  given  by 
the  Arabs  to  its  Sassanian  kings,  would  be  perfectly  appro- 
priate to  its  present  rulers.  The  fixed  inhabitants  of  towns 
and  villages  in  almost  every  part,  except  the  provinces 
bordering  upon  Turkey  and  the  Caspian,  speak  the  Persian 
language ;  and  among  them  doubtless  are  the  remains 
of  the  ancient  Persians,  though  they  have  also  a  large 
amount  of  Arabic  and  other  blood.     But  the  Persians  have 


164  PERSIAN    EDUCATION. 

almost  always  been   a  subject  race ;  and  now  the  citizen 
and  the  peasant  hold  a  less  honorable  rank  than  the  nomad. 
Between  seven   and  eight  hundred  thousand  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Persia  still  live  in   tents  ;  and   while  not  one  of 
them  is  of  the  Persian  language,  they  furnish  the  flower  of 
her  army,  and  the  pride  of  her  nobility.     Turkish,  Arabic, 
Kurdish,  and  Loorish  are  their  native  tongues.     The  Shah 
himself  is  of  a  Turkish  nomadic  tribe.     If  we  would  con- 
fine the  name  of  Persian  to  those  who  are  of  the  Persian 
language,  therefore,  we  must  deny  even  to  the  sovereign  of 
the  country  his  title  of  citizenship.     The  title  of  Persian, 
however,  is  one  of  which  he  is  ignorant.     The  Persians 
do   not   acknowledge    the  name  we  give  them  and  their 
country.     Fars,  or  Farsistan,  from  which  it  is  derived,  is 
known  to  them  only  as  the  province  of  which  Shiraz  is  the 
capital.    Iran  is  now,  and  has  been  from  the  earliest  ages, 
the  indigenous  name  of  the  whole  kingdom.     Their  neigh- 
bors, the  Turks  and  Arabs,  call  it,  with  genuine  Grecian 
arrogance,  the  land    of  Ajem,  or  barbarians.      We  have 
perpetuated  the  mistake  of  the  ancient  Grecians,  and  shall 
probably  continue  to  regard  it  as  needing  correction  less, 
than  many  of  the  errors  which  '  lying  Greece  '  has  told  us 
in  history.    While  we  persevere,  therefore,  in  extending  the 
name  of  a  province  over  the  whole  realm,  I  see  no  objec- 
tion to  applying  it  also  to   the  whole  nation,  or  at  least  to 
all  who  profess  the  national  religion,  so  as  to  include  the 
moslems  of  Aderbaijan. 

Though  Persian  is  not  the  native  language  of  the  mos- 
lems of  Aderbaijan,  however,  it  is  spoken  by  many.  It  is 
the  language  of  trade  and  of  government,  and  is  familiar 
to  some  even  of  the  lower  orders  in  towns.  It  shares  with 
the  Arabic  the  attention  of  all  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
schools ;  and  they  are  many  in  Persia.  We  were  assured 
by  an  extensive  and  acute  observer,  that  the  Persians  set 
an  example  to  even  Christian  nations,  in  the  extent  of  com- 


PERSIAN    MANNERS.  165 

raon  education.  He  judged  that  two  thirds  of  the  males 
can  read.  There  are  a  few  schools  only  for  females;  but 
in  every  village,  except  the  smallest,  there  are  at  least  two 
mollahs,  one  of  whom  acts  as  a  teacher  for  boys.  In  some 
instances  gentlemen  of  wealth  employ  private  instructors, 
and  then  the  children  of  their  servants  and  slaves,  as  well 
as  their  own,  enjoy  their  instructions.  Generally  schools 
are  kept  only  in  mosks ;  and  those  who  teach  them  are  al- 
ways, either  really  mollahs,  or  are  ranked  with  them ;  the 
profession  of  schoolmaster  being  regarded  as  a  branch  of 
the  priesthood.  The  objects  of  education  are  religion  jand 
business.  The  first  is  provided  for  by  learning  to  read  the 
Koran,  and  repeat  a  few  prayers  in  Arabic.  An  under- 
standing of  the  supposed  revelation  of  the  will  of  God,  and 
of  what  is  addressed  to  him  in  prayer,  however,  seems  not 
to  be  regarded  as  necessary ;  and  the  Arabic  branch  is 
generally  carried  no  farther  than  to  a  correct  pronunciation 
of  words.  But  the  medium  of  intercourse  with  man  must 
be  understood,  and  the  meaning,  as  well  as  the  sound  of 
Persian  words  is  taught  at  school.  Still,  I  apprehend  that 
only  a  small  portion  of  the  boys  in  this  province  study  long 
enough  to  become  proficients  in  the  language. 

The  first  trait  in  the  character  of  a  Persian,  that  strikes  a 
traveller  coming  from  Turkey,  is  his  civility.  The  respect 
shown  by  the  lower  orders  to  the  higher,  even  of  their  own 
countrymen,  is  greater  in  Persia  than  in  the  neighboring 
empire.  Turks  in  office  are  treated  with  deference  by  their 
dependents,  but  no  nobility,  nor  any  hereditary  distinc- 
tion of  rank,  being  acknowledged,  much  of  a  feeling  of  re- 
publican equality  and  of  individual  independence  is  still 
discernible,  and  every  Turk  seems  to  regard  every  other, 
somewhat  in  the  light  of  a  brother.  Persia,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  a  land  of  high-toned  aristocracy.  Nobles,  both 
hereditary  and  otherwise,  are  numerous.  The  title  of 
khan  distinguishes  all,  except  those  of  the  royal  blood,  who 

VOL.  II.  15* 


166 


PERSIAN    CIVILITY. 


are  known  by  that  of  mirza  appended  to  their  name.  It  is 
not  confined  to  moslems ;  Armenians  also  are  sometimes 
graced  with  it.  The  nobles  and  the  rich  aim  at  the  great- 
est state  in  equipage  and  servants;  in  tenaciousness  for 
points  of  etiquette  they  can  hardly  be  exceeded ;  and  dis- 
play and  splendor  seem  to  be  all  that  they  admire.  The 
lower  orders  take  the  attitude  of  extreme  obsequiousness ; 
no  forms  of  homage  savor  too  much  of  servitude  for  them 
to  render ;  especially  if  they  are  dependents,  is  their  man- 
ner of  service  marked  with  a  resemblance  to  worship,  to 
which  noparallell  can  be  found,  perhaps,  nearer  than  India. 

The  manners  of  the  Persians  toward  foreigners  differ 
from  those  of  the  Turks,  even  more  than  their  form  of  in- 
tercourse with  each  other.  The  Turkish  gentleman  receives 
you  sitting,  coolly  puts  his  hand  upon  his  breast  for  a  sal- 
utation, asks  you  to  sit  as  if  the  invitation  in  any  form 
was  an  act  of  condescension,  and  a  few  common-place 
questions,  with  long  intervals  of  silence  filled  up  by  pipes 
and  coffee,  complete  the  ceremonies  of  your  reception. 
The  Persian,  not  only  honors  you  by  rising;  but,  putting 
you  at  once  into  the  position  of  his  lord,  and  assuming  the 
attitude  of  your  slave,  he  forces  you  into  his  own  seat,  if  it 
happen  to  be  the  most  honorable.  An  active  conversa- 
tion, enlivened  by  inquisitive  thought,  and  polished  with  a 
profusion  of  compliment,  succeeds;  and  you  leave  him 
with  the  feeling,  that  he  has  improved  upon  the  politeness 
of  the  politest  nation  of  Europe.  Even  the  moslem  peasant 
of  Turkey  would  fain  treat  you  as  his  inferior,  and  disdains 
to  act  as  your  servant ;  but  the  Persian,  not  only  scruples 
not  to  fill  the  most  menial  station,  but  makes  a  more 
respectful  and  submissive  domestic,  than  I  have  found  in 
any  other  nation. 

Such  civility  highly  prepossesses  the  traveller,  at  first,  in 
favor  of  the  society  of  the  nation  which  exercises  it ;  and 
makes  the  missionary  hope  that  his  instructions  may  be 


PERSIAN    DUPLICITY.  167 

received  with  as  much  deference  as  his  person.  Experi- 
ence soon  convinces  both,  however,  that  if  the  Persian  ex- 
cels in  politeness,  he  is  forced  to  it  as  a  mask  to  cover  his 
deceitful n ess.  The  commonest  man  is  found  almost  as  dex- 
terous in  plot  and  intrigue,  as  if  he  were  practised  in  man- 
aging the  diplomacy  of  Europe;  and  the  allurements  of  the 
Persian's  civility,  are  soon  eclipsed  by  painful  experience 
of  his  unequalled  duplicity.  The  traveller  finds  his  hospi- 
tality converted  into  a  money-making  speculation.  Not 
long  since  a  khan,  who  had  been  educated  in  the  Persian 
school,  sought  out  an  English  traveller  and  his  lady,  as 
they  were  passing  through  a  neighboring  city  in  the  Rus- 
sian territories,  and  hospitably  compelled  them  to  accept 
of  gratuitous  accommodations  in  his  house  and  at  his  table 
for  a  number  of  days.  At  their  departure,  he  saved  them 
the  trouble  of  going  to  the  police  office,  by  procuring  their 
passports  himself,  and  brought  with  them  a  pretended 
charge  from  the  inspector  for  about  50  or  60  dollars.  The 
traveller,  though  aware  that  not  a  cent  is  asked  of  for- 
eigners for  passports  in  Russia,  was  ashamed  to  doubt 
the  word  of  one  from  whom  he  had  experienced  such  at- 
tentions, and  paid  the  amount;  thus  replacing  in  the  purse 
of  his  host,  perhaps  twice  as  much  as  his  entertainment 
had  cost.  Not  many  years  since,  a  missionary,  as  he  was 
passing  through  a  city  in  Persia,  had  an  audience  of  the 
prince  royal,  and  obtained  from  him,  as  he  supposed,  most 
liberal  offers  of  patronage  and  support  for  a  missionary 
school.  But  when  we  were  at  Tebriz,  the  khan  who  act- 
ed as  interpreter  boasted  of  having  most  egregiously  de- 
ceived both.  During  a  long  conversation,  he  so  perverted 
the  remarks  of  each,  in  converting  them  from  one  language 
to  the  other,  as  to  make  the  missionary  propose  to  the 
prince  a  school  for  teaching  only  the  language  and  the 
learning  of  the  English,  and  argue  in  its  favor,  when  in 
fact  his  proposal  and  his  arguments  were  all  religious ;  and 


168  ADMISSION    OF    EUROPEAN    INNOVATIONS. 

to  make  the  prince,  with  no  more  than  such  a  mere  literary 
institution  in  mind,  approve  most  fully  an  attempt  to  give 
Persian  children  a  Christian  education,  and  promise  to 
send  his  own  sons.  The  missionary  and  the  prince  sepa- 
rated equally  gratified,  the  one  at  having  secured  such  high 
patronage  for  his  benevolent  projects,  and  the  other  at  the 
literary  prospects  opening  to  his  children;  and  the  khan 
now  amuses  his  friends  by  the  relation  of  his  dexterous 
duplicity.  So  much  are  the  Persians  given  to  falsehood 
and  deceit,  in  their  dealings  with  each  other,  that  mutual 
confidence  is  hardly  known.  In  the  mercantile  profession, 
good  faith  scarcely  exists  among  the  minor  tradesmen,  and 
is  strictly  observed  only  by  those  whose  business  is  so  ex- 
tensive as  to  render  credit  absolutely  necessary  to  success. 
In  a  word,  so  disgusted  did  we  become  with  the  smooth 
duplicity  of  Persia,  that  we  were  not  displeased  to  return 
again  to  the  blunt,  I  had  almost  said  honest,  incivility  of 
Turkey. 

The  Persian,  of  Aderbaijan  especially,  differs  also  from 
the  Turk,  in  his  readiness  to  admit  European  innovations. 
The  Sultan  has  recently,  indeed,  made  havoc  of  all  the 
prejudices  of  his  countrymen ;  but  the  Turk  had  formerly, 
not  a  strong  prejudice  only,  but  an  absolute  contempt,  for 
almost  every  fashion  that  came  to  him  from  the  west.  One 
would  suppose  that  his  religion  was  bound  up  in  the  folds 
of  his  turban,  and  that  his  honor  would  vanish  with  the 
loss  of  his  shalwar ;  so  obstinately  was  he  attached  to  those 
articles  of  dress.  In  his  whole  routine  of  habits,  too,  he 
seemed  to  delight  in  the  contrary  of  the  practice  of  his 
European  neighbors.  The  moslem  of  this  province  of  Per- 
sia, manifests  little  dislike  for  what  is  European.  Tread 
not  upon  his  carpet  with  your  shoes,  nor  touch  his  beard 
with  your  razor,  and  he  will  make  few  objections  to  your 
hat  or  pantaloons,  and  will  imitate  you  in  the  furniture 
of  his  house  and  his  table.     The  military  tactics  of  Europe, 


IDEAS    OP    CEREMONIAL    PURITY.  169 

with  an  imitation  of  its  uniform,  were  introduced  by  Abbas 
Mirza,  long  before  even  Mohammed  Aly  attempted  them  in 
Egypt.  Chairs  and  tables  are  used  in  the  houses  of  some 
of  the  rich  at  Tebriz ;  several  beautiful  porcelain  tea-sets, 
of  the  latest  English  fashion  were  eagerly  bought  up  when 
we  were  there ;  and  many  shops  in  the  bazar  were  stocked 
with  a  variety  of  European  table  furniture.  In  short  the 
rich  Persian  is  fond  of  fashion,  and  that  which  comes  the 
farthest,  is  in  some  cases  at  least  liked  the  best. 

But  you  must  not  imagine,  because  Persians  may  be  in- 
duced to  adopt  articles  of  a  European's  dress  or  furniture, 
that  therefore  they  have  no  dislike  to  his  religion,  or  his 
person.     According  to  the  strictest  of  their  tenets,  the  touch 
of  a  Christian,  or  of  what  a  Christian  has  touched,  is  cere- 
monially impure,  and  unfits  them   for  the  performance  of 
their  devotions.     A  high  sense  of  ceremonial  purity  is  the 
distinctive  trait  of  the  sheey  sect.    In  doctrine,  more  stress 
may  be  laid   upon  the  exaltation  of  Aly,   and  the  rejection 
of  the  first  three  kalifs,  with  the  traditions  compiled  under 
their  direction ;  but  in  practice,   this  stands  most  promi- 
nent.    One  is  inclined,  indeed,  to  imagine  it  to  be  a  plant 
of  Hindoo,  rather  than  of  sheey  origin,  and  perhaps  it  is, 
but  it  seems  now  to  be  indigenous  wherever  that  sect  exists. 
I  have  known  a  Metawaly,  (the  sheey  of  Syria,)  break  a  jar, 
for  its  having  been  polluted  by  the  mere  touch  of  a  Chris- 
tian's lips  for  a  draught  of  water.     Such  a  dread  of  cere- 
monial impurity  makes  a  nation  exceedingly  inhospitable* 
The   rule,   indeed,    is   not   observed    in    all   its  strictness 
by  the  Persians.      Some,  especially  in  private,   regard  it 
not  at  all.     In  the  Russian  provinces  it  has  less  influence 
than  in   Aderbaijan,  and  here  less  than   in  other  parts  of 
Persia.     Even  in  this  province,  however,  the  common  peo- 
ple will  often  try  many  expedients  to  prevent  one  of  an- 
other sect  from  entering  their  houses,  and  in  many  places 
would  suffer  a  foreigner  to  sleep  in  the  street,  rather  than 


170  RECEPTION    OF    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

open  their  doors  to  him.  To  eat  from  the  same  dish  with 
him,  is  the  extreme  of  pollution,  and  none  but  those  whose 
liberality  approaches  to  infidelity  will  do  it.  We  have 
known  our  muleteers  to  search  for  a  moslem  village  at  some 
distance  from  the  one  where  we  lodged  with  Christians,  in 
order  not  to  eat  bread  of  Christian  cooking ;  and  always 
when  we  were  going  into  a  Christian  region,  did  they  lay 
in  a  stock  of  provisions  at  the  last  moslem  market.  In  or- 
der not  to  pollute  the  dishes  of  those  who  entertained  us,  we 
carried  our  own  kitchen  and  table  furniture  ;  and  more  than 
once,  I  doubt  not,  we  might  have  been  denied  a  draught 
of  cold  water,  had  we  not  carried  our  own  drinking  cup. 
Once  we  were  amused  to  see  an  old  Persian,  to  whom  we 
had  paid  a  small  silver  coin,  go  and  wash  it  thoroughly  in 
a  tank  of  water  before  he  put  it  in  his  purse.  The  whole 
sect  says  by  its  conduct  to  every  other,  '  Stand  by  thyself, 
for  I  am  holier  than  thou.'  Even  the  sunny  moslems  of 
Turkey  are  not  exempted  from  the  general  charge  of  im- 
purity. 

The  trait  of  a  Persian's  character  which  most  gratifies 
the  missionary,  is  his  readiness  to  discuss  religious  topics. 
The  Turk  meets  with  a  haughty  frown  .the  most  distant  at- 
tempt to  commend  the  religion  of  Christ,  takes  as  an  un- 
pardonable insult  the  denial  of  the  mission  of  Mohammed, 
and  despises  the  Bible  as  too  corrupt  a  copy  of  the  Law  and 
the  Gospel  to  be  worthy  of  his  notice.  The  Persian  re- 
ceives the  New  Testament  with  reverence.  The  English 
residents  at  Tebriz  unanimously  testified  that  no  objection 
is  made,  by  either  mollahs  or  people  there,  to  its  being  cir- 
culated and  read.  We  found  a  copy  exposed  for  sale,  by 
the  side  of  the  Koran  and  the  Persian  poets,  in  the  shop  of 
a  moslem  bookseller  in  the  bazar  of  that  city.  It  is  in 
some  degree  sought  after.  Mr.  Nisbet  disposed,  while  we 
were  there,  of  the  last  of  his  small  stock,  consisting,  I  be- 
lieve, of  twenty  or  thirty  copies.     The  purchasers  always 


PERSIAN    SKEPTICISM.  171 

professed  to  receive  it  as  the  word  of  God,  declared  that 
they  were  interested  by  the  perusal  of  it,  and  in  no  case, 
with  the  exception  of  the  set  of  passages  which  speak  of 
the  divine  nature  of  Christ,  did  they  object  to  any  part  of  it 
as  spurious.     Three  copies  were  taken  by  our  second  Led- 
yard,  already  alluded  to,  on  leaving  Tebriz  for  his  second 
visit  to  the  valley  of  the  Indus ;  where  he  hoped  to  exchange 
them  for  some  old  Greek  manuscripts,  which  he  had  seen 
there,  and  imagined  to  be  relics  of  the  Bactrian  colonies. 
Another  was  purchased,  to  be  taken  to  Mecca,  by  a  pilgrim 
who  left  after  our  arrival.     No  Christian  can  fail  to  be 
gratified  at  seeing  the  word  of  God  penetrate,  even  by  sin- 
gle copies,  into  such  a  centre  of  superstition  as  Mecca,  and 
such  a  region  of  robbery  and  ignorance  as  the  upper  Indus. 
What  a  happy  exchange  for  the  Afghan,  to  receive  the 
pearl  of  great  price,  while  contributing  to  enrich  the  his- 
torical treasures  of  Europe !  And  how  delighted  would  be 
the  pilgrim,  to  find  Jesus  Christ  the  chief  corner  stone,  and 
be  washed  from  his  sins  in  his  blood,   so  as  no  longer  to 
trust  in  the  stone  of  the  Kaabah,  or  seek  purification  from 
the  water  of  Zemzem  ! 

The  Persians  are  comparatively  tolerant,  also,  of  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  merits  of  Mohammedanism,  and  many  will 
argue  with  all  the  technical  coolness  of  a  dialectician. 
Most  of  the  higher  class  of  the  nobility,  and  the  learned 
profession,  indeed,  pay  little  regard  even  Jo  the  external 
forms  of  religion,  and  are  at  heart  infidels  or  skeptics.  In 
fact,  Soofy  is  known  to  be  little  better  than  another  name 
for  skeptic,  and  the  number  of  that  school  in  Persia  is  es- 
timated by  Sir  John  Malcolm,  at  two  or  three  hundred 
thousand.  I  do  not  adduce  the  free  use  of  wine,  which  is 
said  to  be  indulged  in  by  many  of  the  rich  in  secret,  as  an 
evidence  of  religious  liberality  ;  for  it  is  both  an  unwelcome, 
and  a  deceitful  test.  I  am  no  more  pleased  with  the  liberal- 
ity of  the  moslem,  than  I  am  with  that  of  the  Christian  wine- 


172  PERSIAN     BIGOTRY. 

bibber;  and  often  is  indulgence  in  the  cup  united  with  un- 
usual bigotry,  as  if  to  make  up  for  the  breach  of  one  com- 
mandment,  by  an  over   strict   observance  of  the  others. 
Shah  Abbas  the  Second  could  lie  drunk  for  days  in  suc- 
cession, and  yet  fear  pollution  from  the  touch  of  a  ring  of 
Christian  manufacture,  until  it  had  been  purified  by  water.* 
As  many  of  the  nobility  and  the  learned  are  assembled  at 
Teheran  and  Shiraz,  those  places  contain  more  religious 
liberality  than  others.     Merchants  are  in  Persia  the  most 
bigoted  of  the  respectable  classes,  and  they  are  numerous 
at   Isfahan.     Tebriz   has   seen   much   of  foreigners,  and 
therefore  probably  stands  first  in  liberality  toward  European 
innovations. 

You  must  not  understand  that  all  Persians  are  inclined  to 
freethinking.     The  mass  of  the  people  are  not  only  very 
sincere  in  their  faith,  but  have  decidedly  an  appearance  of 
greater  strictness  in  the  observance  of  their  rites  than  even- 
the  Turks.     I  have  already  spoken  of  their  prayers,  and  of 
their  regard  for  ceremonial  purity.     In  their  ablutions,  too, 
they  adhere  nicely  to  the  rigid  prescriptions  of  the  sheey 
sect.     Often  have  we  known  our   fatigued  muleteers,  on 
reaching  a  stream  of  water  with  parched  tongues,  use  it 
for  purposes  of  purification,  before  quenching  their   thirst. 
Their  observance    of   the  Ramadan  is   exact   to  the  let- 
ter of  the  law,  and  attended  with  an  unusual  appearance 
of  religious  feeling.     Even  our  muleteers,  when  travelling 
on  foot  in  that  fast  at  the  rate  sometimes  of  more  than 
thirty  miles  a  day,  never  ate  a  morsel,  drank  a  drop,  or 
smoked  a  pipe,  from  early  dawn  till  sunset.     In  the  bazars 
of  Tebrizr  during  that  period,  a  large  part  of  the  merchants 
were  to  be  seen  reading  the  Koran,  as  they  sat  in  their 
stalls ;  and  more  that  once  we  found  them  too  attentively 
engaged  in  it  to  wait  upon  us  as  customers.     Even  on 
common  days  most  of  them  had  their  Korans  by  their  side ; 

*  Chaidin,  vol.  6:  p.  319. 


PERSIAN    SKEPTICISM.  173 

and  many  a  time,  as  I  looked  upon  them,  did  I  ask  myself, 
upon  how  many  merchants'  counters  in  our  cities  does  the 
Bible  appear !  Frequently,  in  passing  through  the  bazars, 
we  saw  persons  addressing  a  crowd  assembled  around 
them.  They  were  dervishes  preaching  or  telling  tales  to 
the  people.  Once  in  Khoy,  we  found  a  venerable  old  man 
in  the  public  square,  seated  upon  a  horse  and  supported  by 
a  long  spear  which  he  rested  upon  the  ground,  addressing 
most  eloquently  a  listening  multitude  around  him.  He 
might  have  sat  for  the  picture  of  the  eloquent  dervish, 
which  Hareery  has  so  finely  drawn  in  his  first  Makdmeh. 
Dervishes  seemed  to  be  more  numerous  here  than  in 
Turkey. 

Even  among  the  free-thinking  part  of  the  community,  a 
nearer  view  will  discover  hardly  an  easier  access  for  the 
truth.  They  are  either  wrapt  in  a  bewildering  labyrinth 
of  philoshphical  speculations,  or  are  utterly  regardless  of 
all  religion.  Sometimes  they  will  carelessly  admit  all  your 
arguments,  and  at  others  reject  them  merely  for  the  sake 
of  disputing ;  depriving  you  equally,  in  both  cases,  of  the 
hope  of  producing  a  conviction  of  the  truth.  To  such  a 
result,  there  is  still  another  obstacle.  The  opprobrium  of 
apostasy  from  Mohammedanism  would  be  universal  and 
great.  I  have  already  intimated  the  prince's  willingness 
that  his  children  should  be  taught  the  language  and  learn- 
ing of  England.  A  school  for  those  branches  would  doubt- 
less be  very  popular  among  the  higher  classes  in  Tebriz  ; 
and  the  Scriptures  might,  be  used  in  it  as  a  class-book,  with- 
out objection.  But  it  is  questionable  whether,  as  soon  as  it 
was  discovered  that  the  pupils  were  receiving  a  bias  in  favor 
of  our  religion,  every  one  would  not  be  withdrawn.  It  is 
doubted  whether  any  Persian  would  knowingly  allow  his 
child  to  imbibe  partialities  for  Christianity.  A  convert  to 
Christianity  would  probably,  we  were  assured,  in  any  oth- 

VOL.  II.  16 


174  TOLERATION  OP  THE  PRINCE. 

er  part  of  Persia,  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  Mohammedan 
law ;  but  in  his  province,  the  probability  is  that  he  would 
not.  The  mollahs  would  indeed  do  their  best  to  influence 
the  people  against  him,  but  they  are  hardly  enough  res- 
pected to  be  able  to  create  any  dangerous  expression  of 
popular  wrath.  The  prince  would  be  likely  to  protect 
him. 


LETTER    XIX. 

FROM      TEBRIZ      TO      SALMAS. 

Route  proposed — Leave  Tebriz — Sahalan — Condition  of  the  peasantry — 
Deezeh-khaleel — Inhospitality — A  Sabbath  in  Ramadan — Shehwaly — 
Lake  of  Oormiah— District  of  Giinieh — Salt  plains — Dilman — Van  and 
Aghtamar — Khosrova,  a  Chaldean  village — Modern  origin  of  the  Chaldean 
sect — Chaldeans  of  these  parts — Their  political  condition — Their  religi- 
ous rites — State  of  papal  missions  in  Persia — Pretender  to  the  throne  of 
Georgia — Excursion  to  Old  Salmas — The  Jews  of  these  parts — A  Chal- 
dean wedding. 

Dear  Sir, 

Our  Instructions  directed  our  attention  to  the  Nestorian 
and  Chaldean  Christians  of  Kurdistan,  and  a  deep  interest 
in  those  almost  unknown  sects  made  us  determine  from  the 
first,  if  possible,  to  visit  them.  Supposing  also,  from  the 
fact  that  El  Koosh  near  Mosul  has  long  been  the  seat  of  the 
oldest  patriarchate  of  the  former,  while  the  spiritual  head 
of  the  latter  resides  at  Diarbekr,  that  they  would  be  most 
accessible  from  the  southern  side  of  the  Kurdish  mountains, 
we  proposed  likewise  to  pass  through  Mesopotamia.  Es- 
pecially, as  we  should  thus  comply  with  another  item  of 
our  Instructions,  which  suggested  the  possibility  of  our 
finding  it  expedient  to  return  by  way  of  Syria.  Tebriz 
was  fixed  upon,  as  the  best  place  for  obtaining  information 
to  direct  us,  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  part  of  our  tour. 
We  here  had  confirmed,  what  had  previously  been  told  us, 
that  the  only  practicable  route  for  penetrating  into  Mesopo- 
tamia, is  by  way  of  Bagdad.  But  disease  had  already  de- 
tained us  from  arriving  in  those  warm  regions  so  early  ia 


176  ROUTE    PROPOSED. 

the  cool  season  as  was  desirable,  and  we  were  informed 
from  authentic  sources,  that  civil  dissensions  had  hedged  up 
even  that  route.  The  pasha  of  Bagdad,  having  not  only 
refused  to  send  his  regular  contribution  to  the  Sultan,  but 
slain  an  officer,  who  had  come  to  exact  it,  had  been  de- 
clared a  rebel ;  and  an  army  was  marching  from  the  neigh- 
boring pashaliks  of  Diarbekr  and  Aleppo,  to  reduce  him. 
In  these  circumstances,  not  only  was  the  rebel  pasha  using 
the  greatest  vigilance  to  prevent  even  letters  from  conveying 
in  that  direction  any  information  of  the  state  of  his  city  ;  but 
the  Yezeedies  near  Mosul,  absolved  from  fear  of  the  old 
government,  and  not  yet  submitted  to  the  new,  were  com- 
mitting the  most  daring  outrages  upon  all  who  passed ;  and 
even  under  the  walls  of  Bagdad,  so  great  was  the  disorder, 
that  robberies  were  frequent. 

To  proceed  with  such  prospects  would  be  the  extreme 
of  imprudence,  and  we  therefore  wrote  to  Bagdad  for  the 
latest  information,  and  turned  our  attention  to  the  Nestori- 
ans  and  Chaldeans  on  this  side  of  Kurdistan.  The  English 
at  Tebriz  confessed  an  almost  entire  ignorance  of  their  re- 
ligious doctrines  and  character,  and  no  one  at  that  place 
could  give  us  much  information  respecting  them.  Almost 
the  only  important  fact  we  learned,  was  that  a  considerable 
body  of  Nestorians  were  accessible  in  the  provinces  of  Oor- 
miah  and  Salmas:  and,  my  health  being  sufficiently  re- 
stored by  the  last  of  winter  to  allow  of  travelling  again,  we 
determined  to  visit  them.  In  order  not  to  go  and  return 
by  the  same  route,  we  concluded  to  make  the  circuit  of  the 
lake  of  Oormiah.  The  government,  at  the  solicitation  of 
the  acting  envoy,  furnished  us  with  a  rdJcam,  or  passport, 
containing  an  order  for  the  local  authorities  to  pay  us  every 
necessary  attention,  and  give  us  guards  if  we  should  need 
them.  And  Capt.  Campbell,  and  Maj.  Willock,  supplied 
us  with  recommendatory  letters  to  the  chief  officers  and 
khans  of  Oormiah,  Maragha,  and  one  or  two  other  places. 


SAHALAN.  177 

We  started  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  March.  To 
find  myself  again  on  horse-back,  after  so  long  a  confine- 
ment, was  not  a  little  exhilarating,  and  feelings  of  restored 
strength  made  me  regardless  of  the  piercing  wind  of  a 
bleak  March  morning.  We  crossed  the  river  Ajy  by  a 
brick  bridge  of  several  arches ;  and  a  gravelly  plain,  white 
in  spots  with  salt,  extended  thence  to  Sahalan,  where  we 
stopped  at  half  past  12,  three  fursakhs  from  Tebriz.  It  was 
a  small  village  of  only  40  houses,  and  surrounded  by  a 
ruined  mud  wall.  All  its  inhabitants,  like  those  of  every 
village  around,  were  moslems;  and,  the  sun  being  ob- 
scured by  clouds,  they  came  every  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
for  at  least  two  hours  before  sunset,  to  know  from  our 
watches  if  the  time  drew  near,  when,  by  the  laws  of  the 
Ramadan,  they  were  allowed  to  eat.  We  were  the  guests 
of  the  kethhuda,  or  lord  of  the  village.  Having  observed  on 
arriving  that  most  of  the  terraces  were  arched,  instead  of 
being  flat  as  usual,  we  inquired  the  reason.  He  informed 
us  that  the  timbers  which  formerly  supported  them,  were 
burnt  by  the  Russians,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  others  to 
supply  their  place,  it  was  found  necessary  to  construct 
arches  of  unburnt  bricks.  In  this  woodless  region,  beams 
for  a  terrace  are  a  rare  and  choice  article.  A  species  of 
poplar  is  cultivated  in  most  villages  for  the  purpose,  being 
planted,  like  the  sinjid,  along  the  margin  of  canals. 

Our  host  informed  us  that  his  village  was  the  property  of 
a  khan,  to  whom  and  to  government  its  inhabitants  pay 
three  tenths  of  their  produce.  We  afterward  learned  from 
an  intelligent  gentleman,  that  the  law  of  the  land  imposes 
upon  all  peasants  a  tax  of  two  tenths  of  what  they  reap 
from  their  fields;  if  freeholders,  as  not  a  few  are,  the 
remainder  is  their  own ;  if  not,  one  tenth  more  is  given  to 
the  proprietor.  The  latter  cannot  increase  his  demands 
nor  can  he 'remove  any  peasants  from  their  farms.  The 
peasant,  however,  to  escape  illegal  exactions,  often  flees 

VOL.  II.  16* 


178  CONDITION    OF  THE    PEASANTRY. 

of  his  own  accord  to  the  soil  of  some  other  proprietor,  and 
there  receives  land,  protection,  and  freedom  from  rent  for  a 
certain  number  of  years.     A  powerful  check  is  thus  impo- 
sed upon  oppression.     Other  taxes  are  exacted  by  govern- 
ment.    A  peasant  in  another  village  stated  them  to  be,  for 
his  townsmen,  two  reals  (about  75  cents)  for  every  houser 
ox,  cow,   and  buffalo ;  one  penabdd  (about    15  cents)  for 
every  sheep ;  one  real   for  every  house ;  a  capitation  tax  of 
six  reals  for  every  male  over  sixteen  ;  and  a  certain  sum  for 
every  fruit  tree  in   their  gardens,  and   every  batman  (a 
square  measure)  of  ground  in  their  vineyards.     The  gen- 
tleman just  mentioned  declared,  that  the  peasants  of  Persia 
are  placed  by   the  laws  in   a  more  eligible  situation  than 
those  of  any  state  of  Europe ;  and  that  little  distinction   is 
made  between  Christians  and   moslems ;    the  former  not 
being  forbidden  to  wear  arms,  nor,  in  their  own  villages  at 
least,  meeting  with  any  hindrance  to  the  building  of  church- 
es.    Another   gentleman  confirmed   the  opinion   that  the 
laws  are  very  mild ;  but  said,  what  our  own  observation 
every  where  confirmed,  that  their  nial-administration,  and 
the  abuses  of  under-officers,  now  grind  the  peasant  to  the 
dust.     From   Aderbaijan,   for   example,  the   whole  of  the 
tribute  demanded  by  government  is  six  or  seven  hundred 
thousand  tomans ;  but  the  collection  of  it  is  so  universally 
embraced  as  an  occasion  for  filling  the  pockets  of  every 
officer  through  whose  hands  it  passes,  from  the  lowest  col- 
lector to  the  minister  around  the  throne,  that  fifteen  hun- 
dred thousand  are  supposed  to  be  actually  exacted.    Though 
oppressive  rulers  deprive  the  subject  of  his  money,  however, 
the  want  of  a  police  leaves  him  the  full  enjoyment  of  what, 
in  some   countries,  seems   to   be   almost  as  highly  prized. 
The  liberty  of  speech  is  fully  enjoyed ;  and  every  one  seems 
to  vituperate  his  ruler,  with   almost  as  little  scruple  as  he 
does  his  neighbor. 

March  5.    From  Sahalan  to  Deezeh-khaleel  we  took  a 


DEEZEH-KHALEEL.  17$ 

circuitous  road,  along  the  foot  of  the  mountains  on  the- 
northern  side  of  the  great  plain  of  Tebriz,  and  found  it 
tolerably  dry.  On  another  occasion  we  pursued  a  more 
direct  route  from  the  bridge,  through  Alvar  and  Aly-shah, 
and  were  much  impeded  by  mud.  Indeed,  the  plain  as 
viewed  from  Deezeh-khaleel,  appears,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
lake  to  the  south,  to  be  a  marsh.  To-day  all  the  moun- 
tains around  were  white  to  their  base  with  snow,  which 
had  fallen  in  the  night ;  and  high  and  piercing  winds  oc- 
casionally brought  over  us  some  of  the  snow  squalls  which 
still  lingered  upon  their  tops.  In  the  latter  part  of  our 
ride,  we  passed  at  a  distance,  first  on  the  right,  and  then 
on  the  left,  a  number  of  villages,  some  of  which  appeared 
large  and  flourishing.  In  their  vicinity  were  many  fields 
of  the  grain  of  this  year,  and  the  dry  cotton  of  last ;  but 
most  of  the  plain  was  fallow.  Nothing  is  cultivated  with- 
out irrigation ;  and  for  that  every  field  is  divided  into  small 
patches,  like  ponds,  a  rod  or  two  square.  On  entering 
Deezeh-khaleel  the  road  became  enclosed  between  mud 
walls,  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  high.  In  the  outskirts  they 
surrounded  extensive  fruit  gardens,  in  which,  besides  now 
and  then  a  house,  could  be  discovered  through  an  occa- 
sional opening,  the  apple,  pear,  peach  and  vine.  The  lat- 
ter had  been  left  exposed  the  whole  winter.  The  same  high 
walls  throughout  the  village  concealed  almost  every  thing 
from  our  view,  and  only  a  small  hole  occasionally  indicated 
the  existence  of  a  house  within.  Such  are  most  of  the 
respectable  villages  in  this  part  of  Persia. 

We  had  sent  Antonio  forward  to  request  a  room  of  the 
ketkhoda;  but,  after  travelling  through  street  after  street 
without  meeting  hardly  an  individual,  we  almost  despair- 
ed of  finding  him.  At  length  a  number  of  boys  were 
seen  peeping  slily  around  the  corners  of  the  streets,  and 
dodging  away,  as  if  a  wild  beast,  or  some  other  fearful 
object  of  curiosity  were  there.     It  was  Antonio.     He  had 


180 


PERSIAN    INHOSPITALITY. 


been  told  that  the  ketkhoda  was  not  at  home,  and  then 
conducted  to  a  stable  for  lodgings.  Our  rakam  had  been 
shown,  and  boys  paid  to  guide  him  to  the  house  of  the 
ketkhoda,  in  vain.  They  led  him  only  to  a  house  without 
an  inhabitant.  A  few  words  from  us  procured  a  guide  to 
the  ketkhoda' s ;  but  he  was  not  to  be  found,  and  a  boy  at 
the  door  hesitated  to  admit  us.  We  passed  him,  and 
found  an  elder  brother  within,  who,  seeing  us  fairly  enter- 
ed, apologized  for  the  other's  incivility,  confessed  that  his 
father  was  the  ketkhoda,  conducted  us  to  a  comfortable 
upper  room,  spread  it  immediately  with  carpets,  brought  a 
dish  of  fine  apples  for  a  peshkesh  (present),  and  offered  the 
house  for  our  own  and  himself  for  our  servant.  The  father 
soon  came,  but  denied  at  once  that  he  was  the  ketkhoda, 
and  called  his  son  a  foolish  boy  for  saying  he  was.  He 
soon  inquired  of  Antonio  if  our  rakam  ordered  the  village  to 
bear  our  expenses.  The  reply,  that  we  intended  to  pay  for 
every  thing,  immediately  changed  his  tone ;  we  might  stay 
as  long  as  we  pleased,  every  thing  we  called  for  was  a 
present,  and  no  one  could  tell  how  he  loved  us.  He  hes- 
itated not  to  acknowledge  that  he  was  the  ketkhoda. 

The  mystery  was  now  explained.  The  sight  of  our  rak- 
am, which  Antonio  had  incautiously  shown  at  first,  had 
given  the  impression  that  he  perhaps  was  a  mihmandar, 
and  that  we  were  to  be  quartered  gratuitously  upon  the  vil- 
lage, the  Persian  government  being  in  the  habit  of  procur- 
ing thus  a  forced  hospitality  for  travellers.  Deezeh-khaleel 
is  the  name  of  two  villages  separated  only  by  a  wall,  and 
each  afraid  to  receive  us,  had  sent  Antonio  from  one  to  the 
other.  We  had  ourselves  been  sent,  by  the  affrighted  in- 
habitants of  Khaleel,  over  to  their  neighbors  of  Deezeh. 
You  need  not  a  word  from  us  to  understand  the  faults  of 
a  government,  and  the  misery  of  a  people,  where  an  op- 
pressor is  thus  feared  in  every  passing  traveller.  This  is  but 
one  instance  out  of  many  of  a  similar  reception.     At  Aly- 


SABBATH    AT    DEEZEH-KHALEEL.  181 

shah,  a  large  and  respectable  village,  we  labored  an  hour 
and  a  half,  on  our  return,  before  any  one  would  admit  us. 
In  order  to  manage  the  thing  properly,  Mr.  Dwight  went 
forward  upon  that  occasion  to  look  for  lodgings.  The 
ketkhoda  was  not  to  be  found.  Offers  to  pay  for  our  lodg- 
ings were  of  no  avail ;  not  even  a  stable  could  be  procured. 
And  though  the  public  square,  on  Mr.  D wight's  arrival,  was 
full  of  gay  inhabitants  celebrating  the  Noroz,  the  greatest 
festival  of  the  Persians,  his  appearance  dispersed  them  so 
suddenly,  that  when  I  came  up  hardly  an  individual  ap- 
peared in  the  streets. — Deezeh-khaleel  contains  400  or  500 
houses,  and  is  inhabited  entirely  by  moslems.  They  are 
freeholders,  but  are  appropriated  to  a  high  officer,  who  is 
ordered  by  government  to  obtain  his  salary  from  them. 
Villages  seem  to  be  often  given  thus  to  particular  individ- 
uals in  Persia,  and  from  the  practice,  doubtless,  arises  much 
of  the  oppression  experienced  by  the  peasantry. 

March  6.  We  spent  a  quiet  Sabbath  at  Deezeh-khaleel. 
The  atmosphere,  purified  by  the  squalls  of  yesterday,  was 
delightfully  serene,  and  we  enjoyed  much  a  walk  in  the 
fields.  Occasionally  a  keen  breath  of  air  came  down  from 
the  snowy  mountain  on  the  north;  but  only  enough  to 
make  grateful  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun,  which  fell  through 
a  cloudless  sky  upon  the  broad  plain  to  the  south.  The 
fields  had  the  quietness  of  the  same  holy  day  at  home,  as  if 
even  the  moslems  around  us  had  been  seized  with  rever- 
ence for  the  sacred ness  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  The 
cause,  however,  was  different.  The  Ramadan  had  taken 
away  for  the  present  their  strength  and  inclination  for  labor. 
Our  house  was  not  altogether  so  quiet.  Last  night,  before 
we  were  aware,  and  while  we  were  dining  by  his  side,  our 
host  began  a  session  of  his  court,  seated  upon  my  bed.  Be- 
fore it  was  finished,  a  hint  that  we  were  sleepy,  caused  him 
to  adjourn.  On  rising  to-day,  we  found  him  with  his 
neighbors,  holding  the  balance  of  justice,  upon  the  ground 


182  SHEHWALY. 

in  the  street  before  his  door.  The  cold  soon  forced  them 
into  the  stable ;  and  from  thence  loud  and  boisterous  voices, 
elicited  by  the  progress  of  the  cause,  were  ascending  all 
the  morning. — He  informed  us  that  his  father  lived  to  the 
age  of  120  years.  The  prince,  on  hearing  of  his  extreme 
longevity,  caused  him  to  visit  him  at  Tebriz,  and  place  his 
hand  upon  his  head,  hoping  thereby  himself  to  reach  the 
same  age ;  such  an  effect  being  commonly  ascribed  to  the 
imposition  of  the  hands  of  an  aged  man.  The  anecdote 
reminded  me  of  Jacob's  interview  with  Pharaoh  ;  and  sug- 
gested the  query,  whether  such  a  ceremony  and  idea  may 
not  explain  the  singular  circumstance,  that  a  plain  shepherd 
should  bless  a  powerful  king. 

March  7.  Our  day's  ride  was  from  Deezeh-khaleel  to 
Shehwaly,  a  distance  of  four  fursakhs.  The  country  had 
an  undulating  and  gravelly  surface,  and  gradually  declined 
from  the  mountain  on  the  right  to  the  lake,  which  was  not 
far  off,  on  the  left.  A  number  of  villages  appeared  in  differ- 
ent directions.  A  mile  or  two  from  Shehwaly,  a  road 
branches  off  toward  Khoy.  It  was  the  one  by  which  we 
had  first  reached  Tebriz.  We  now  turned  to  the  left 
toward  Salmas.  The  same  difficulties  in  finding  lodgings 
were  experienced  again  to-day.  To  avoid  them,  I  went 
forward  myself.  The  ketkhoda  as  usual  was  not  to  be 
found,  and  a  stable  was  offered  for  our  lodgings.  I  plead- 
ed mildly,  and  offered  to  pay  well  for  a  better  room,  but  a 
bold  and  absolute  refusal  was  the  only  answer.  The  rak- 
am  was  then  shown,  and  more  authoritative  language 
used,  but  a  milder  refusal  was  the  only  effect.  At  length 
a  young  man,  pretending  to  have  learned  from  a  perusal  of 
the  rakam  that  we  were  distinguished  characters,  came 
forward  with  a  smiling  face  to  apologize  for  the  incivility 
of  his  townsmen,  and  to  offer  us  excellent  lodgings.  He 
conducted  us  to  the  same  stable !  We  had  begun  to  doubt 
whether,  in  so  miserable  a  little  village,  we  could  do  better, 


LAKE    OF    OORMIAH.  183 

and  therefore,  responding  to  his  smile,  accepted  his  offer. 
All  were  at  once  on  the  best  terms  with  us,  and  the  whole 
village  was  so  glad  to  see  us  disposed  of  with  no  more  in- 
convenience to  themselves,  that  whatever  we  wanted  was 
immediately  at  our  command.  The  fact  that  we  found 
these  difficulties  only  in  moslem  villages,  and  that  offers  of 
money  did  not  in  every  case  remove  them,  seems  to  show 
that  they  are  connected  with  a  fear  of  ceremonial  defile- 
ment, as  well  as  an  apprehension  of  expense.  In  one 
case,  an  old  moslem  host  sat  constantly  by  us,  to  see  that 
we  did  not  drink  wine,  and  drop  it  upon  his  carpets. 

Shehwaly  being  but  a  few  rods  from  the  lake  of  Oor- 
miah,  (called  also  Shahy  lake,)  we  rode  down  to  its 
shore  in  the  afternoon.  Its  water  was  exceedingly  saline, 
and  some  salt  was  deposited  in  crevices  of  the  rocks  along 
its  margin.  No  unusual  taste  was  perceptible,  but  it  is 
said  to  have  a  medicinal  effect ;  and  the  fact  that  no  fish 
of  any  kind  inhabit  the  lake,  indicates  the  presence  of 
some  unusual  ingredients.  It  is  nowhere  more  than  a  few 
feet  in  depth,  and  is  without  an  outlet.  A  few  boats  are 
said  to  ply  upon  it  between  Oormiah  and  Maragha.  The 
island  upon  which  Hoolakoo  built  the  castle  for  his  treas- 
ures, appears  distinctly  from  Shehwaly.  Other  islands  also 
rise  out  of  its  tranquil  waters,  and  with  the  lofty  mountains 
around,  contribute  to  form  a  beautiful  landscape.  The  lake 
of  Oormiah  is  remarkable  for  the  alluvial  plains  which  sur- 
round it.  They  extend  up  between  the  mountains  like 
bays,  and  their  appearance  suggests  the  inquiry  whether 
they  were  not  once  covered  with  water.  We  have  already 
viewed  the  plain  of  Tebriz.  Another  lies  on  the  north, 
where  we  now  were,  between  the  lake  and  the  pass  in  the 
mountains  through  which  we  came  from  Khoy.  Its  extent 
is  not  great,  but  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountains  it  is  fer- 
tile, and  contains  a  number  of  villages.  The  principal  is 
Tesooch,  or  Tesy.     We  passed  through  it  twice  on  other 


184  DISTRICT    OP    GUNIEH. 

occasions.  It  exhibits  many  ruins  indicative  of  former 
consequence,  among  which  are  two  old  and  well  built  mosks. 
At  present  its  inhabitants  seem  to  be  few,  but  it  is  the  cap- 
ital of  a  district  called  Giinieh,  which,  besides  this  plain, 
extends  far  enough  to  embrace  also  Deezeh-khaleel,  a  dis- 
tance of  five  or  six  fursakhs.  Its  site  is  upon  the  level 
plain,  but  the  other  villages  appear  upon  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  with  their  fields  and  gardens  reaching  from 
them  toward  the  lake,  until  the  soil  becomes  too  much  im- 
pregnated with  salt  to  allow  of  cultivation. — No  Armenians 
inhabit  the  district  of  Giinieh. 

March  8.  We  rode  around  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
lake.  Myriads  of  large  ducks  were  flying  over  it,  swim- 
ming upon  its  surface,  and  wading  in  the  salt  marshes  up- 
on its  shore.  The  flat  over  which  we  travelled  was  white 
in  almost  every  part,  with  an  incrustation  of  salt,  which  had 
exuded  from  its  surface.  The  quantity  was  here  unusually 
great,  but  similar  appearances  in  these  parts  are  extremely 
frequent.  I  have  already  mentioned  instances  in  the  valley 
of  the  Aras,  and  in  the  plain  of  Tebriz.  Repeatedly  were 
we  disappointed  on  reaching  a  limpid  brook,  to  find  it  too 
strongly  impregnated  with  saline  matter  to  quench  our 
thirst.  This  plain  is  nearly  destitute  of  running  water. 
As  a  substitute,  not  only  for  drinking  but  for  irrigation, 
(without  which  nothing  is  cultivated,)  the  villagers  save  in 
successive  tanks  the  water  that  is  brought  down  by  winter 
torrents  from  the  mountains.  To  avoid,  I  suppose,  its  be- 
ing impregnated  with  the  mineral  properties  of  the  soil,  it 
is  conducted  from  the  reservoirs  to  the  villages,  in  covered 
canals  sunk  eight  or  ten  feet  under  ground.  Their  course 
is  marked  by  a  succession  of  open  wells,  only  a  rod  or  two 
apart,  descending  to  the  water.  A  ride  of  four  fursakhs 
brought  us  to  Khanadan,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
lake.  It  is  the  last  spot  in  the  district  of  Giinieh.  The 
village  was  out  of  sight  in  some  ravine  of  the  mountains ; 


DILMAN.  185 

and  only  a  shop  stood  by  the  road   for  the  convenience  of 
travellers. 

Here  another  plain  extended  westward  from  the  lake, 
like  that  of  Tebriz  toward  the  east.     It  was  the  district  of 
Salmas.     Mountains  surround  it  on  three  sides,  and  the 
part  nearest  the  shore  is,  for  some  distance,  marshy.     We 
took  a  direction  toward  its  southwest  corner,  from  the  grav- 
elly elevation  around  Khanadan  ;  and  again  entered  ancient 
Armenia,  for  Salmas  was  embraced  within  its  limits.     The 
first  village  was  three  fursakhs  distant,  and  before  we  reach- 
ed it  no  cultivation  appeared,  much  of  the  surface  being 
white  with  salt.     Beyond,  the  soil  assumed  an  aspect  of 
great  fertility,  and  was  highly  cultivated  throughout.     One 
fursakh  more  brought  us  to  Dilman,  the  present  capital 
of  the  province,  and  finished  our  day's  ride  of  eight  fur- 
sakhs.    Finding  no  comfortable  room  in  the  caravanserai, 
we  sent  Antonio  to   solicit  lodgings  from   the   governor. 
Some  refused  to  show  him  the  house,  others  gave  him  a 
wrong  direction ;  and  when  he   at  last  found  it,  the  gov- 
ernor was  not  at  home.     A  merchant  in  the  bazar,  in  the 
meantime,  invited  us  to  be  seated  by  him,   and,   while  a 
number  attracted  by  curiosity  gathered  around,  began  to 
question  us  respecting  the  movements  of  Abbas  Mirza, 
and  our  own  object  in  travelling.     We  learned  that  there 
were  then  several  agents  of  the  prince  in  town,  exacting 
money  and  soldiers  from  its  inhabitants.     At  Deezeh-kha- 
leel,  too,  the  cause  of  the  ketkhoda's  court  was  the  imposi- 
tion of  a  new  tax.     And  strange  as  it  may  seem  that  we 
could  be  imagined  to  have  any  connection  with  government, 
it  is  possible  that  a  vague   fear  lest  some  additional  im- 
position should  follow  in  our  train,  increased  the  universal 
reluctance  to  receive  us.     The  return  of  Antonio  seemed 
to  place  us  in  the  alternative  of  creeping  into  a  dirty  hole 
in  the  caravanserai,  or  of  sleeping  in  the  street.     We  ap- 
pealed to  a  crowd  around  to  know  if  they  would  suffer 

VOL.  II.  17 


186 


VAN    AND    AGHTAMAR. 


strangers  to  fare  thus,  and  one  stepped  forward  to  offer  us 
lodgings  in  his  house.  His  room  was  good,  and  the  enter- 
tainment he  gave  us  generous. 

Dilman  is  a  market  town,  fortified  by  a  regular  mud  wall. 
Its  houses  are  six  or  seven  hundred  in  number,  all  built  of 
mud,  and  inhabited  only  by  moslems.  Salmas,  with  a  part 
of  the  neighboring  province  of  Khoy,  is  the  seat  of  one  of 
the  pastoral  tribes  of  Persia  called  Lek.  Their  language 
is  the  Turkish,  and  their  faith  the  sheey.  A  khan  of  their 
race  is  governor  of  Dilman,  and  of  the  district  of  which 
it  is  the  capital. — A  road  leads  from  this  place  to  Van,  a 
distance  of  about  24  fursakhs,  which. is  frequently  travelled 
by  small  caravans  without  danger.  Another  leads  from 
Tebriz  to  the  same  place  by  Khoy,  and  is  not  far  from  the 
same  length.  We  wished  to  return  to  Erzroom  by  way  of 
Van,  and  were  prevented  only  by  the  information  that  rob- 
bers beset  the  road  between  those  places.  We  regretted 
our  disappointment  the  more,  as  Van  is  said  to  be  in  the 
centre  of  a  fine  province,  which  contains  a  great  number 
of  Armenians.  It  is  the  residence  of  a  Turkish  pasha  of 
three  tails.  The  vicinity  also  of  the  Catholicos  of  Aghta- 
mar  increases  a  missionary's  interest  in  it.  Saint-Martin  is 
mistaken  in  affirming  that  he  is  of  the  Greek  faith.  The 
branch  of  the  Armenian  church  of  which  he  is  the  head, 
is  in  regular  communion  with  the  others.  His  diocese, 
however,  is  extremely  small.  Bishop  Israel  of  Tebriz  af- 
firmed that  it  is  limited  to  the  island  in  which  he  resides. 
But  the  secretary  of  the  Catholicos  at  Echmiadzin  assured 
us,  that  some  districts  in  the  Kurdish  mountains  also  ac- 
knowledge his  supremacy. 

March  9.  We  rode  to  Khosrova,  a  Chaldean  village 
about  two  miles  from  Dilman. — The  present  Chaldean 
Christians  are  of  recent  origin.  It  was  in  A.  D.  1681, 
that  the  Nestorian  metropolitan  of  Diarbekr,  having  quar- 
relled with  his  patriarch,  was  first  consecrated  by  the  pope 


CHALDEAN    CHRISTIANS.  187 

patriarch  of  the  Chaldeans.  The  sect  was  as  new  as  the 
office,  and  was  created  for  it.  Converts  to  papacy  from 
the  Nestorian  and  Jacobite  churches  were  united  in  one 
body,  and  dignified  by  the  name  of  the  Chaldean  church. 
It  means  no  more  than  papal  Syrians ;  as  we  have  in  other 
parts  papal  Armenians,  and  papal  Greeks.  The  name  of 
the  first  patriarch  happened  to  be  Yoosuf  (Joseph),  the 
same  was  assumed  by  his  successors,  and  a  Mar  Yoosuf 
now  occupies  the  see  of  Diarbekr,  as  patriarch  of  the 
Chaldeans.*  Khosrova  is  the  residence  of  the  bishop  of 
all  who  are  on  this  side  of  tha  Kurdish  mountains.  As  we 
rode  up  to  his  house,  an  old  man  with  a  long  Kurdish  cap, 
green  turban,  and  ragged  sheep-skin  pelisse,  came  out  to 
welcome  us.  It  was  Mar  Yohanna,  the  bishop.  He  re- 
ceived us  civilly,  but  being  too  poor  to  lodge  us,  he  refer- 
red us  to  his  priest  for  a  room. 

The  bishop  having  been  educated  at  Rome,  and  lived 
some  time  at  Aleppo,  Mosul  and  Bagdad,  spoke  both  Ital- 
ian and  Arabic  with  considerable  fluency.  Bishop's  orders 
were  conferred  upon  him  by  the  pope's  vicar  at  Bagdad  in 
consequence  of  instructions  from  Rome.  He  seemed,  per- 
haps from  age,  to  be  possessed  of  little  energy  or  intelli- 
gence, and  evidently  dependent  for  every  thing  upon  his 
priest.  The  priest,  too,  though  a  native  of  the  village,  had 
been  twelve  years  in  the  college  of  the  Propaganda  at 
Rome.  He  spoke  Italian  with  ease,  and  being  very  com- 
municative, answered  our  questions  with  readiness.  We 
afterward  found  that  his  information  respecting  the  Nes- 
torians  was  strongly  tinged  by  his  prejudices  against  them. 
The  bishop's  was  still  more  so ;  and  we  learned  to  distrust 
whatever  they  said  of  that  sect.  Both  of  them  were  given 
to  profaneness,  and  an  oath,  or  some  similar  expression, 
often  slipped  from  their  tongues.     The  priest  informed  us, 

*  Assemani  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  3:  p.  623.     Niebuhr,  Voy.  en  Arab.  vol. 
2:  p.  328. 


188  CHALDEAN    CHRISTIANS. 

that  the  inhabitants  of  this  village  are  all  Chaldeans,  and 
are  only  150  families  in  number ;  though  another  man, 
who  said  he  had  a  list  of  them,  affirmed  that  they  amount 
to  170  families.  The  are  indigenous  to  the  spot,  and  were 
converted  from  the  Nestorian  to  the  papal  church  about  a 
century  ago.  In  the  other  villages  of  the  province  of  Sal- 
mas,  there  are  but  few  of  their  sect.  Oola  contains  26 
families,  Gooleeza  20,  Patavor  15,  Khaghia  7,  and  6  are 
scattered  elsewhere.  In  the  province  of  Oormiah  they 
reckon  about  200  families,  most  of  whom  are  in  the  village 
of  Barbary.  Add  about  30  families  who  emigrated  from 
this  vicinity  with  the  Russians  to  Sharoor,  in  the  province 
of  Erivan,  and,  (if  the  statements  of  the  priest  are  cor- 
rect,) you  have  a  complete  list  of  all  the  Chaldeans  of 
these  parts,  amounting  to  about  2300  souls.  They  have, 
in  all,  but  four  priests  besides  our  informant,  three  of 
whom  are  in  the  province  of  Oormiah,  and  one  here ;  and 
none  but  him  has  had  any  other  than  a  native  education. 
The  diocese  acknowledges  the  supremacy  of  the  Chaldean 
patriarch  at  Diarbekr,  and  occasionally  receives  orders 
from  thence,  but  pays  him  no  money.* 

Besides  the  diocesan,  a  second  bishop  also  resides  at 
Khosrova.  Being,  according  to  the  laws  of  Nestorian 
episcopal  succession,  heir  to  the  diocese,  he  resented  being 
supplanted  by  another,  and  when  Mar  Yohanna  went  to 
Bagdad  for  consecration,  he  obtained  the  same  right  from 
the  Nestorian  Mar  Shimon  of  the  mountains.  An  excom- 
munication was  fulminated  against  him  in  consequence,  but 
by  going  to  Bagdad   and  lining  well  the  pockets  of  the 

*  The  following  was  given  us,  by  the  nephew  of  bishop  Shevris,  of  whom 
more  will  be  said  hereafter,  as  a  complete  list  of  the  present  Chaldean  bish- 
ops.— Mar  Basilius,  at  Diarbekr.  Mar  Michael,  at  Sert.  Mar  Ignatius, 
at  Mardin.  Mar  Loientius,  at  Ain  Kawa,  near  Bagdad.  Mar  Yohanna, 
and  Mar  Yoosuf,  at  El  Koosh.  Mar  Yohanna,  at  Khosrova. — The  title 
Mar,  which  seems  to  be  common  to  all  Chaldean,  Nestorian,  and  Jacobite 
bishops,  is  equivalent  to  lord. 


CHALDEAN    CHRISTIANS.  189 

pope's  vicar  there,  he  got  a  favorable  representation  of  his 
case  made  to  Rome,  and  retained  the  rank  of  sub-bishop  in 
this  diocese.     'And  here  he  has  been,'  said  Mar  Yohanna, 
our  informant,  '  for  many,  many  years,  and  as  often  as  I  have 
said  white,  he   has  invariably  said  black.''     The  priest,  too, 
regarded  him  with  extreme  contempt,  and  repeatedly  amu- 
sed himself  by  calling  him  semivirumque    bovem. — There 
was  also,  till  recently,   another  Chaldean   bishop,  by  the 
name  of  Shevris,  in  this  region,  but,  I  believe,  without  a 
diocese.     He  was  a  native  of  Sert,  and   was  consecrated 
bishop  by  Mar  Elias  of  El  Koosh,  without  orders  from  the 
pope.     To  effect  a  compromise  for  such  an  irregularity,  he 
went  to  Rome,  in  person,  and  resided  there  twelve  years. 
'Then,'   said   the  old   bishop,   our    informant  again,  'he 
came  here  and  connected  himself  with  the  Bible  Society, 
from  which  he  received  a  large  annual  pension.'    He  seem- 
ed prejudiced  against  him,  and  called  him  '  un  motto ,-'  but 
still  affirmed  that  he  died  in  the  bosom  of  the  papal  church. 
The  fact  that  he  was  always  a  firm  papist,  was  declared 
not  only  by  several   Chaldeans  and  Nestorians,  but  by  a 
nephew  of  Shevris  himself,  who  will  be  mentioned  hereafter. 
The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society   employed  him  to 
translate  the  New  Testament   into  the  Kurdish  language, 
and  the   work  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  missionaries  at 
Shoosha  for  revision.     An  English  gentleman  at  Tebriz, 
who  knew  Shevris  well,  had   already  expressed  to  us  an 
apprehension  that  he  had  done  his  work   like  a  hireling. 
The  priest  here   affirmed  that  it  could  be  of  no  use,  as  he 
had  written  it  in  the  Nestorian  character,  which,   besides 
being  entirely   unknown  to  the  Kurds,  is   ill   adapted  to 
express  the    sounds  of  their  language.     Undoubtedly,    as 
the  Kurds  have   no  alphabet  of  their  own,  and  are  as  mos- 
lems  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  Koran,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  languages  of  the  Turks  and  Persians  who  surround 
them,  the  Arabic   alphabet  ought  to  have  been  used.     The 

VOL.  II.  17* 


190  CHALDEAN    CHRISTIANS. 

translation,  however,  will  doubtless  be  worth  something  as 
a  first  attempt,  and  will  be  an  important  help  to  missionaries 
who  may  wish  to  learn  the  Kurdish  language.  He  died  at 
Tebriz  of  the  epidemic,  during  the  last  season. 

We  were  hardly  seated  with  the  bishop  and  his  priest, 
before  two  litigants,  with  a  crowd  at  their  heels,  rushed  in 
to  plead  a  cause  before  the  episcopal  tribunal.     Both  were 
angry  and  obstinate,  and,  upheld  by  their  friends,  put  the 
reverend  judge  to  his  wit's  end  to  pacify  them.     His  con- 
sultations with  his  priest,  being  held  in  Italian  that  they 
might  not  be  comprehended  by  the  people,   were  of  course 
understood  by  us ;  and  the  latter,  fearing  that  we  might  de- 
tect some  machiavelism,  deemed  it  necessary,  in  the  sequel, 
to  apologize.     He  said  that  such  were  the  habits  of  the 
people  and  the  nature  of  moslem  law,  that  to  tell  the  plain 
truth  did  no  good ;  quibbles  and  expedients  were  necessary. 
Such  a  state  of  things  was  exceedingly  painful  to  him,  but 
the  people  must  be  satisfied,  or  they  would  appeal  to  the  Mo- 
hammedan authorities. — The  inhabitants  of  the  village,  he 
informed  us,  own  the  soil  they  cultivate.    Though  so  hedged 
in  by  surrounding  villages  that  their  possessions   are  small, 
they  pay  a  tax  of  1000  tomans  (about  $3000)   in  money, 
and  about  half  that  amount  in  grain  !     Nor,  though  fixed 
by  charters,  is  this  all ;  through  illegal  exactions  from  col- 
lectors ,  and  the  imposition  of  unjust  fines,   they  actually 
give  much  more.     Even   mechanics,  of  whom  there   are 
only  a  few  weavers,  cannot  exercise  their  trade  without 
paying  for  a  license.     In  fact,  he  said,  they  are  drained  of 
every  farthing  they  can  earn.     That  they  were  extremely 
poor,  their  external  appearance  abundantly  testified.    Their 
oppression  has  increased  since  the  war. — Only  some  twenty 
or  thirty  can  read,   and  they  have  been  taught   since  the 
priest  came  here,  that  they  might  assist   him   in  church. 
Besides  the   few  taught  by  him,  the    Chaldeans  have  no 
school  here  or  elsewhere,  in  this  region. 


CHALDEAN    CHRISTIANS.  191 

We  attended  evening  prayers  in  the  church.  It  was  an  old 
stone  structure,  ornamented  within  by  a  multitude  of  coarse 
shawls  and  Roman  pictures  hung  around  its  walls,  and  its  in- 
terior was  extremely  dark.  Like  the  common  Armenian 
churches,  its  floor  was  strown  with  sheep-skins  and  bits  of 
rugs  ;  and  each  one,  as  he  entered,  left  his  shoes  at  the  door, 
and  placed  himself  upon  one  of  them.  Few  were  present ; 
the  service  was  read  and  chanted  with  great  rapidity  ;  and  I 
think  I  never  saw  so  little  reverence,  and  so  much  careless- 
ness in  divine  worship.  In  form  it  resembled  that  of  the 
Nestorians,  which  will  be  hereafter  described.  In  fact,  all 
the  Nestorian  church  books  are  used  by  the  Chaldeans, 
with  scarcely  any  other  alteration  than  the  substitution  of 
the  names  of  papal  for  those  of  Nestorian  saints,  and  the 
expunging  of  a  few  sentences  that  savor  of  Nestorianism. 
The  priest  seemed  to  think,  that,  in  conformity  with  the 
name  of  his  church,  its  books  must  in  ancient  times  have 
been  written  in  the  Chaldean  character,  but  confessed  that 
at  present  it  possesses  no  such  books,,  and  only  uses  the 
Nestorian  character,  with  now  and  then  an  old  manuscript 
in  the  Estrangelo.  Only  the  scripture  lessons  in  the  public 
services  are  explained  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  None  of  the 
other  parts,  according  to  the  confession  of  the  priest,  are 
understood  by  the  people.  The  Chaldeans  not  only  regu- 
late the  time  of  their  fasts  and  feasts  by  the  oriental  calen- 
dar, but  observe  the  former  with  all  the  strictness  of  the 
Nestorians,  eating  no  kind  of  animal  food,  and  in  lent  ab- 
staining from  every  thing  until  afternoon.  Their  priests, 
like  those  of  the  papal  Greeks  and  Maronites  of  Syria,  are 
allowed  to  marry  before  ordination,  but  not  after.  Like 
good  papists,  they  receive  only  the  bread  at  communion. 

This  is  now  the  only  papal  mission  in   Aderbaijan,  nor 
did  we  learn  of  any  other  in  all  Persia,  except  at  Isfahan.* 

*   Chardin  found  two   Capuchins  at  Tebriz  ',  (vol.  2:  p.  344,)  but  their 
hospice  has  long  since  ceased  to  exist. 


192  PAPAL    MISSIONS    IN    PERSIA. 

The  priest  said  that  he  formerly  received  from  Rome,  an 
annual  remittance  of  a  hundred  dollars,  but  for  the  last  two 
or  three  years  no  money  had  been  sent,  and  he  could  not 
even  get  an  answer  to  his  letters.     Such  neglect  provoked 
from  him  many  bitter  complaints  ;  and  he  declared,  that  his 
two  brethren  at  Isfahan  had   written  to -him  that  they  were 
in  the  same  predicament,  almost  starving  for  want  of  money. 
How  curtailed  are  the  finances  and  the  influence  of  Rome, 
since  the  time  when  Chardin  found  Augustinians,  Capu- 
chins, Carmelites,  and  Jesuits,   living  at  such   ease  in  the 
capital  of  Persia  !     Let  her  continue  thus  to  sink  elsewhere, 
and  soon  will  that  great  city  be  found  no  more  at  all.     We 
seem,  throughout  this  journey,  to  have  been  treading  upon 
her  ruins ;  and  I  confess  that  one  of  the  most  pleasing  re- 
flections it  has  occasioned  me,   is  that  we   have  found  so 
many  of  them  completely  buried  in  the  dust.     The  priest 
complained   that    his    embarrassment   for    want   of   funds 
deprived  him  of  all  energy   for  his   missionary  labors.     He 
was  anxious  to  multiply  books  in  the  vulgar  language,  but 
had  yet  only  translated  the  Doctrina  Christiana,  (a  papal 
catechism,)  and  a  few  prayers,  for  his  pupils.     They  are  the 
only  books  that  exist  in  the  vulgar  language  of  the  Nestorians. 
We  obtained  copies  of  them,  and  of  a  Nestoriano-Turkish 
catechism.     He  had  projected  also  a  work  upon  the  Nes- 
torians, but  I  apprehend  it  would  be  little  more   than   an 
abridgment  of  Asseman,   whom  he  owned,   and  followed 
closely  in  the  information  he  gave  us.     As  the  result  of  his 
labors  hitherto,  he  mentioned  the  twenty  or  thirty  youth ' 
here  whom  he  had  taught  to  read,  and  the  Chaldeans  in 
the  villages  around  who  had   been  converted  by  him.     He 
was  in  expectation  of  a  speedy  reinforcement  from  Rome  ; 
two  young  men  of  the  village,  whom  he  had  sent  thither 
for  education,  being  about  ready  to  return. 

I  have   already  mentioned  that  one  of  the   heirs  to  the 
last  waly  of  Georgia,  is  supported  by  the  Persian  govern- 


PRETENDER    TO    THE    THRONE    OF    GEORGIA.  193 

merit,  as  a  pretender  to  the  throne  of  that  country.  He 
resides  in  this  village,  and  we  called  on  him  after  evening 
prayers.  So  rejoiced  was  he  to  see  us,  if  we  may  credit 
his  own  expressions,  that  our  visit  was  .worth  to  him  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand  tomans;  and  offers  of  services, 
hardly  one  of"  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  perform,  were 
heaped  upon  us  in  such  profusion,  that  we  were  put  to  our 
wit's  end  for  civil  excuses  to  decline  them  all.  It  was 
Persian  politeness  carried  to  the  most  disgusting  excess. 
The  kings  of  Imireti,  and  the  princes  of  Mingreli,  he  in- 
formed us,  were  his  relatives,  and  his  ancestors  were  of  the 
Pakradian  family.  His  wekeel  added,  that  the  Pakradians 
were  of  the  royal  family  and  lineage  of  David,  the  son  of 
Jesse.  He  bears  the  name  and  title  of  Alexander  khan, 
and  lives  upon  a  pension  of  about  a  thousand  tomans 
which  he  is  ordered  by  government  to  take  from  the  taxes 
of  this  village.  Weakness  and  generosity  of  character 
make  him  too  improvident  to  manage  his  own  income,  and 
among  the  Georgian  dependents  who  form  his  court,  is  an 
Armenian  khan,  named  Aghalar,  a  native  of  Georgia,  who 
acts  as  his  wekeel.  We  exchanged  calls  with  him  also, 
and  afterward  learned  that  he  is  brother  of  a  eunuch,  who 
now  controls  the  cabinet  of  Teheran.  He  has  no  lack  of 
sense,  nor  of  providence,  and  of  course  fares  better  than 
his  master. 

March  10.  Taking  a  Chaldean  guide  from  Kh6srovay 
we  made  an  excursion  this  morning  to  Old  Salmas,  now 
generally  called  simply  Shehir,  or  the  city.  The  plain 
continued  of  the  same  character  as  was  noticed  at  the  first 
village  on  entering  the  district.  Level  almost  as  the  floor 
of  a  house,  with  a  soil  of  rich  light  loam,  and  irrigated 
throughout  with  canals,  it  presented  a  landscape  truly  charm- 
ing. Cotton  and  rice  do  not  flourish  here,  and  only  grain 
is  cultivated ;  but  with  that  almost  every  spot  was  green. 
Our  guide  assured  us  that  it  produces  from  eight  to  twelve, 


194 


OLD    SALMAS. 


and  in  some  places  fifteen  fold.  Numerous  villages  ap- 
peared, and  all  were  surrounded,  like  Khosrova,  with 
forests  of  fruit  trees,  which  seem  to  flourish  here  with  al- 
most unequalled  exuberance.  The  apple,  pear,  quince, 
peach,  apricot,  walnut,  and  sinjid,  were  the  principal. 
Through  gardens  thickly  set  with  these,  we  worked  our 
way  into  Saoora,  a  village  on  the  road.  Our  guide  assured 
us  that  five  or  six  hundred  families  of  Armenians  had 
emigrated  from  it  to  Georgia,  and  that  only  a  few  of  that 
nation  with  a  few  moslems  were  left.  We  found  the  Chal- 
dean church  in  the  keeping  of  a  solitary  family  of  that 
sect.  Its  door  was  a  mere  eliptical  hole  cut  through  a 
single  stone,  and  so  small  as  to  admit  one's  body  with 
difficulty.  Within  were  three  small  chapels  under  the 
same  roof,  dark  and  dirty,  and  without  furniture,  except 
a  few  old  shawls  and  Romish  pictures  suspended  upon  the 
walls.  No  books  even  were  to  be  found,  and  the  keeper 
said  the  clergy  brought  them  from  Khosrova,  when  they 
came  to  say  mass  on  the  great  festivals. 

Salmas  is  mentioned  by  ancient  writers,  as  a  town  in 
the  Armenian  province  of  Persarmenia.*  The  modern 
village  is  scattered  over  a  considerable  space,  on  the  site  of 
the  old  one.  Its  houses  are  poor,  and  it  has  an  aspect  of 
decay.  The  only  remains  of  antiquity  we  saw,  were  two 
or  three  cylindrical  monuments,  or  towers,  of  an  order  sim- 
ilar to  that  at  Shamkor,  but  much  inferior  in  height. 
They  were  constructed  Of  brick,  and  marked  with  inscrip- 
tions" in  the  Arabic  character,  betraying  a  moslem  origin. 
The  plain  extends  hardly  more  than  a  mile  southwestward 
from  the  town,  and  then  commence  the  semi-independent 
mountains  of  the  Kurds.  Though  so  near  that  lawless 
people,  however,  the  district  is  never  disturbed  by  them, 
except  when  the  Persian  government  is  in  a  weak  and 
disorganized  state. — The  entrance  to  the  Chaldean  church 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  179. 


JEWS    OF    PERSIA.  195 

was  like  that  just  mentioned  at  Saoora,  and  its  interior  was 
in  a  similar  state,  except  that  it  contained  three  or  four  old 
books,  one  of  which  was  written  in  the  Estrangelo  charac- 
ter upon  parchment.  There  being  no  Chaldean  or  Nes- 
torian  in  town,  the  key  was  kept  by  an  old  Armenian. 
Still,  the  clergy  come  from  Khosrova  to  say  mass  in  it,  upon 
the  great  festivals.  Among  other  ancient  inscriptions  upon 
the  stones  in  the  external  face  of  its  walls,  we  noticed  one 
in  a  character  entirely  unknown  to  us. — We  found  the 
Jewish  synagogue  neater  and  better  carpeted  than  the 
churches ;  and  the  Jews  better  dressed  than  the  Chris- 
tians. Their  copies  of  the  law  were  beautiful,  and  we 
tried  to  purchase  one,  but  in  vain.  They  reckon  30  or  35 
families  here;  in  Oormiah  they  amount  to  300  families; 
and  in  Khoy,  I  believe,  there  are  a  few ;  but  elsewhere  in 
Aderbaijan  we  heard  of  none.  In  Teheran,  Kashan,  and 
Isfahan,  they  are  more  numerous.  The  priest  at  Khosro- 
va said  that  these  of  Salmas  are  doubtless  much  oppressed, 
but  less  so  than  his  own  townsmen ;  for  not  being  cultiva- 
tors of  the  soil,  their  property  is  not  so  tangible.  Their 
appearance  seemed  to  justify  his  opinion.  The  Jews  of 
Persia  generally  are  the  most  ignorant,  demoralized  and 
oppressed  part  of  the  community.  They  are  said  to  have 
neither  tradition,  nor  history,  to  inform  them  when  their 
ancestors  came  into  the  country.  We  naturally  look 
among  them  for  the  remains  of  the  ten  tribes;  but  if  such 
were  their  origin,  all  traces  of  it  have  been  effaced.  They 
now  resemble  their  brethren  elsewhere,  except  that  their 
reverence  for  the  Talmud  is  perhaps  somewhat  less,  and 
there  is  some  doubt  whether  they  have  all  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  This  resemblance  may  have  been  pro- 
duced by  long  intercourse  with  Jerusalem  Rabbies,  who 
often  pass  by  them  on  their  way  to  the  north.  We  found 
one  at  Salmas,  at  the  time  of  our  visit.  They  speak  the 
languages  of  the  country ;  but  respecting  the  common  use 


196  A    CHALDEAN    WEDDING. 

of  a  vulgar  Hebrew  among  them,  we  received  contradictory 
statements. — The  Armenian  church  bore  marks  of  great 
poverty,  and  was  probably  stripped  of  its  furniture  and  or- 
naments at  the  time  of  the  emigration.  Upon  that  occa- 
sion, we  were  assured,  200  families  left  the  town.  Only 
20  remained,  and  40  have  since  joined  them,  so  that  their 
present  number  is  60.  In  the  whole  district  there  are 
now  but  about  400  families  of  Armenians.  They  have  no 
school,  nor  had  they  any  before  the  war. 

We  returned  to  Khosrova  in  time  to  attend  a  Chaldean 
wedding.  It  was  a  nephew  of  the  priest,  with  whom  he 
lives,  that  was  married,  and  we  therefore  had  the  best 
chance  of  viewing  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion. 
Our  host,  both  because  as  a  priest  he  had  long  endeavored 
to  discountenance  the  frolickings  of  his  parishioners,  and 
because  his  nephew  was  a  widower  with  a  family  of  chil- 
dren, as  well  as  to  avoid  expense,  wished,  he  said,  to  have 
little  parade.  The  friends  of  the  bride  prevailed,  however, 
and  the  wedding  took  place  with  some  eclat.  Yesterday, 
the  bridegroom  uncovered  a  large  jar  of  wine  in  his  yard, 
(which,  according  to  the  manner  of  keeping  wine  here,  was 
buried  a  foot  or  two  in  the  ground,)  and  slew  a  cow  also 
before  our  door.  The  whole  of  the  beef,  and  large  quan- 
tities*of  wine,  with  butter,  and  rice,  were  sent  to  the  house 
of  the  bride  for  the  wedding  feast.  The  wine  was  in  the 
greatest  demand,  and  jars  were  repeatedly  filled  and  sent 
away,  or  drunk  on  the  spot,  as  if  it  had  been  water.  To 
stain  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  bride,  a  dish  of  henna,  too, 
was  furnished  by  the  bridegroom.  It  was  applied  in  the 
evening  by  an  assembly  of  women,  who  had  a  feast  upon 
the  occasion,  with  music  and  dancing.  The  priest  would 
not  provide  the  latter,  and  the  expense  of  it  was  borne 
by  the  father  of  the  girl.  The  expense  of  marrying  is 
here  so  great,  that  a  contribution  is  generally  taken  up 
for   the   bridegroom   through   the   village ;   otherwise   few 


A    CHALDEAN    WEDDING.  197 

young  men  would  be  able  to  marry.  The  nephew  of 
the  priest  had  already  once  received  this  favor  at  his  former 
marriage,  however,  and  he  could  not  solicit  it  of  his  towns- 
men again.  But  we  were  not  thus  excused  from  the  solici- 
tation, and  in  the  course  of  to-day  the  bride  sent  us,  by  the 
hand  of  a  maid,  a  tray  of  pears  and  lavender.  Its  mean- 
ing was  easily  understood,  and,  hoping  thereby  to  discharge 
some  of  our  obligations  to  our  host,  we  put  into  the  hand 
of  the  bearer  a  small  coin.  It  afterward  appeared  that 
the  purses  of  the  espoused  parties  were  not  yet  united, 
and  this  was  only  a  trick  of  the  girl's  father  to  spunge  us 
of  some  money. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  to-day,  a  company  of  musicians 
and  dancers  carried  from  the  bridegroom  to  the  bride  the 
present  of  her  wedding  dress.  The  bridegroom  remained 
at  home ;  we  anticipated  the  slow  movements  of  the  music- 
al procession,  and  arrived  before  them.  Along  the  side  of 
a  large  room  were  seated  upon  the  ground,  in  all  the  mirth 
of  boisterous  conviviality,  a  row  of  men,  with  trays  of  bread 
and  fruit  before  them,  and  waiters  passing  goblets  of  wine 
rapidly  around.  Their  noise  ceased  for  a  moment  as  we 
entered,  and  they  rose  respectfully  to  receive  us.  In  a 
corner  of  the  same  room,  was  huddled,  also  upon  the  ground, 
a  crowd  of  women.  Against  the  wall  were  three  or  four 
entirely  covered  with  veils,  indicating  that  they  had  been 
married  within  the  year.  Between  them  appeared  the 
bride,  also  with  a  veil,  but  without  the  flat  dish  that  crowned 
the  heads  of  the  married  women.  Near  them  sat  one  or 
two  with  unveiled  faces,  except  that  the  chin  was  well  muf- 
fled to  the  nose,  and  a  red  shawl  was  thrown  over  their 
head  to  show  that  they  were  married  the  year  before.  The 
mass  of  the  married  dames  had  likewise  the  lower  part  of 
the  visage  concealed  in  a  mufler,  but  a  white  instead  of  a 
red  shawl  upon  the  head,  betokened  that  they  were  matrons 
of  some  standing.     A  complement  of  unmarried  maidens, 

VOL.  II.  18 


198  A    CHALDEAN    WEDDING. 

having  their  faces  entirely  naked,  and  nothing  upon  their 
heads  but  a  tight  cap  from  which  dangled  an  abundance  of 
gold  and  silver  coins,  completed  the  crowd.  These  were 
the  relatives  of  the  bride. 

The  relatives  of  the  bridegroom  soon  came  with  the 
wedding  dress,  and  filled  the  room.  The  bride  was  clothed 
where  she  sat,  but  the  crowd  of  women  around  completely 
screened  her  from  the  gaze  of  the  men.  The  latter  were 
otherwise  employed ;  for  the  trays  were  now  loaded  with 
dishes  of  various  kinds  of  food,  which,  with  large  draughts 
of  wane,  they  hastened  to  despatch.  The  uproar,  from 
loud  talk,  music  and  quarrelling,  soon  increased  to  a  deaf- 
ening and  almost  fearful  height.  The  bridegroom  had 
given  a  large  dowry,  at  the  espousals ;  but  custom  re- 
quired an  additional  present,  also,  at  the  marriage,  to  the 
father,  brothers  and  nearest  relations.  So  exorbitant  were 
their  demands  on  this  score  to-day,  that  the  priest  had  al- 
ready been  forced  to  refer  them  to  court  for  a  decision. 
Provoked  by  this,  and  half  drunk  with  wine,  the  father  was 
exceedingly  waspish,  and  vented  his  wrath  in  words  and 
actions,  which  we  at  one  time  expected  would  actually  end 
in  blows.  The  dress-maker,  too,  clamorously  demanded 
her  fee,  and  a  present  was  claimed  in  high  terms  by  all 
who  had  aided  in  dressing  the  bride,  among  whom  the 
girl  who  had  tied  her  zone  made  herself  the  most  conspic- 
uous. The  bride  was  at  length  equipped,  and  having 
with  many  pretended  or  real  tears  given  the  farewell  kiss 
to  her  parents  and  relatives,  was  conducted  slowly  to  the 
door.  There  a  horse  was  waiting  for  her,  and  as  she 
mounted,  an  infant  boy  was  seated  in  her  lap  upon  the 
saddle,  to  augur  the  felicitous  result  of  such  an  offspring. 
Then,  preceded  by  music  and  dancing,  and  attended  by 
an  immense  crowd,  many  of  whom  were  well  in  their  cups, 
she  marched  slowly  to  the  house  of  the  bridegroom. 

We  took  a  shorter  road,  and  arrived  before  them.     At 


A    CHALDEAN    WEDDING.  199 

the  first  sign  of  her  coming,  the  bridegroom,  who  had  re- 
mained at  home,  mounted  his  terrace  with  a  few  of  his 
friends.  As  she  drew  near,  one  held  a  tray  of  fruit  before 
him,  and  another  poured  goblets  of  wine  down  his  throat, 
all  shouting  at  every  draught.  A  lump  of  butter  was 
brought  the  bride,  which  she  stuck  upon  the  door-post  as 
she  entered,  to  signify  that  her  coming  brought  plenty  and 
fruitfulness  to  the  house.  The  last  of  the  demands  made, 
in  accordance  with  marriage  customs  here,  upon  the  purse 
of  the  poor  bridegroom,  was  now  met  by  a  promise  to  her 
of  a  new  dress,  before  she  would  be  seated.  The  court 
was  immediately  filled  with  a  crowd  of  men  and  women, 
who  continued  dancing  by  torch  light  to  the  sound  of  mu- 
sic, until  a  late  hour.  The  wine  jar  was  soon  reported  to 
be  exhausted,  although  it  had  contained  about  150  bottles. 
Another  of  the  same  size  was  soon  opened,  and  when  we 
returned  from  Oormiah,  ten  days  afterward,  that  too  was 
empty.  Tired  of  such  carousals,  we  retired  to  our  room 
and  to  sleep,  leaving  a  request  to  be  awaked  to  witness  the 
marriage. 

We  were  called  an  hour  after  midnight,  and  hastened  to 
the  church,  where  it  was  to  take  place.  The  espoused 
parties  came  with  no  attendance.  At  the  altar,  the  friend 
of  the  bridegroom  and  the  bridemaid  stood  between  them, 
and  during  the  ceremony  repeatedly  whispered  in  the  ear 
of  each.  They  were  once  brought  together  for  a  moment 
to  join  hands ;  but  the  bride  held  back  so  resolutely,  that 
the  union  was  not  effected  without  much  persuasion,  and 
even  force.  When  together,  they  were  observed  to  be 
more  intent  upon  treading  on  each  other's  toes,  than  upon 
joining  hands ;  for  you  must  know  that  whichever  had  his 
toes  well  mashed  at  that  critical  moment,  was  to  be  obedient 
to  the  other  through  life.  A  ring  was  dipped  in  wine  and 
water  by  the  priest,  and  given  to  the  bridegroom  to  be  put 
by  him  upon  the  finger  of  the  bride  ;  and  the  ceremony 


200  A    CHALDEAN    WEDDING. 

was  consummated  by  crowning  the  head  of  each  with  a 
garland.  The  communion  ought  to  have  been  given  them 
before  leaving"  the  church,  and,  as  a  preparation,  they  had 
actually  been  made  to  confess  during  the  evening ;  but  the 
priest  declared  that  after  so  much  drinking  and  carousing 
he  would  not  administer  it.  Two  attendants,  with  a  cym- 
bal and  a  bell,  led  the  way  from  the  church ;  the  priest 
and  deacon  followed  them,  chanting  from  their  books;  and 
thus  the  married  couple  were  conducted  home. 


LETTER    XX. 

OORMIAH. 

Origin  of  Nestoriauism — Its  establishment  in  Persia — Origin  and  extent  of 
the  patriarchate  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon — Different  residences  of  its 
patriarchs — Conversions  of  the  Nestorians  to  the  papal  church — Origin  of 
the  seceding  patriarchate  of  Mar  Shimon  in  the  Kurdish  mountains — 
Our  arrival  at  Jamalava,  a  Nestorian  village  in  the  province  of  Oormiah 
— Nestorian  fasts — Evening  prayers — Bishop  Mar  Yohanna — Language 
of  the  Nestorians — Adoration  of  the  saints — Prayers  for  the  dead — State 
of  the  dead  before  Christ — Independent  Nestorians  of  Kurdistan — Diocese 
of  Mar  Shimon — Diocese  of  the  bishop  of  Jamalava — Orders  of  the  Nes- 
torian clergy — Their  support — Ideas  of  the  way  of  salvation — Sign  of  the 
cross — Number  of  the  Nestorian  sacraments — Baptism — Sacred  leaven — 
Eucharist — Mode  of  communion — Open  communion — Marriage — Conse- 
cration of  churches — Armenian  carnival. 

Dear  Sir, 

In  passing  from  the  Armenian  to  the  Nestorian  church, 
we  go  backward  one  step  in  the  history  of  heresy.  Nesto- 
rius  was  excommunicated  at  Ephesus,  by  the  third  general 
council,  A.  D.  431  ;  twenty  years  before  Eutyches  was 
condemned  by  the  fourth  general  council,  at  Chalcedon. 
You  will  not  expect  me  to  review  the  transactions  of  that 
assembly.  They  form  a  page  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
which  a  sarcastic  Gibbon  may  take  pleasure  in  unfolding 
for  the  scorn  of  her  enemies,  but  which  the  Christian  will 
not  be  reluctant  to  leave  veiled  in  the  darkness  of  the  age 
in  which  they  occurred.  That  Nestorius  was  innocent,  I 
am  not  disposed  to  contend ;  but  if  he  was  chargeable  with 
guilt,  I  should  search  for  it  elsewhere  than  did  the  council. 
Its  first  accusation  was,  that  he  refused  to  the  virgin  the 
title  of  Mother  of  God.     Had  he  plead  guilty  to  it,  surely 

VOL.  II.  18* 


202  ORIGIN    OF    NESTORIANISM. 

no  protestant  would  for  that  have  charged  him  with  heresy. 
But  he  did  not,  for  he  said,  "  I  have  often  declared,  that  if 
one  more  simple  among  you,  or  any  others,  is  pleased  with 
this  word  ©soto'jco?,  I  have  no  objection  to  it,  so  be  that 
he  make  not  the  virgin  God."*  It  accused  him  next,  of 
holding  not  only  to  two  natures,  but  to  tivo  persons  in 
Christ.  And  even  had  he  used  such  language,  no  one 
accustomed  to  discriminate,  will  deny,  that  it  might  have 
had  in  his  mouth  no  heretical  meaning.  But  he  perseve- 
ringly  denied  the  charge  to  the  end  of  his  life.  To  Cyril, 
his  enemy,  he  wrote,  "  I  approve  that  you  preach  a  distinc- 
tion of  natures  in  respect  to  the  divinity  and  humanity,  and 
a  conjunction  of  them  in  one  person."  And  to  another  pre- 
late he  said,  "  Of  the  two  natures  there  is  one  authority,  one 
virtue,  one  power,  and  one  person  according  to  one  digni- 
ty."! Nestorius  had  on  the  one  point,  however,  in  attempt- 
ing to  penetrate  beyond  the  reach  of  finite  powers  into 
the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  darkened  counsel  by  words 
without  knowledge ;  and  on  the  other,  had  boldly,  and 
perhaps  honestly,  endeavored  to  correct  a  popular  supersti- 
tion. The  opportunity  for  humbling  the  occupant  of  the  see 
of  Constantinople,  which  had  begun  to  eclipse  its  sister  pa- 
triarchates, was  too  good  to  be  lost ;  and  the  envious  Cyril  of 
Alexandria  delayed  not  to  sound  the  alarm  of  heresy.  By 
refusing  to  wait  for  the  delegates  of  Antioch,  (the  friends  of 
the  accused,)  he  converted  the  council  of  Ephesus  into  an  ex- 
parte  tribunal,  and  Nestorius  was  condemned  unheard. 

On  being  cut  off  from  the  church,  and  hurled  from  the 
patriarchal  throne  of  Constantinople,  Nestorius  was  first 
banished  to  Arabia  Petrsea ;  thence,  after  a  four  years'  res- 
dence  near  Antioch,  he  was  transported  to  one  of  the  Oases 
of  Libya ;  and  finally  died  in  Upper  Egypt.  But  his  cause 
was  the  cause  of  his  countrymen  in  the  East,  and  needed  not 
his  presence  to  secure  its  progress.     Others  besides  himself 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4  :  p.  193-  f  Ibid.  p.  192. 


ITS    ESTABLISHMENT    IN    PERSIA.  203 

had  there  sat  at  the  feet  of  Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  and  Theo- 
dorus  of  Mopsuestia ;  and  John,  patriarch  of  Antioch,  both 
from  partiality  to  the  same  opinions,  and  from  chagrin  at 
the  neglect  shown  him  by  his  brother  of  Alexandria  at 
the  council  of  Epesus,  looked  with  complacence  upon  the 
feelings  of  his  flock.  Particularly  in  the  famous  school  of 
Edessa,  (now  Orfah,)  where  many  Christian  youth  of  Per- 
sia were  educated,  was  the  part  of  the  condemned  patriarch 
warmly  espoused.  His  partisans  were  indeed  expelled 
from  it  before  the  declaration  of  peace  between  the  sees  of 
Antioch  and  Alexandria,  and  the  school  itself  was  finally 
destroyed  in  A.  D.  489,  by  order  of  the  emperor  Zeno. 
But  Ibas,  then  a  presbyter  in  Edessa,  in  the  meantime  ex- 
cited by  his  correspondence  an  interest  in  the  cause  among 
the  Persian  ecclesiastics ;  the  expelled  pupils  carried  with 
them  to  the  country  of  their  birth  and  of  their  banishment 
a  still  warmer  personal  sympathy  in  it ;  and  Barsumas,  one 
of  their  number,  added  his  influence,  both  as  head  of  his 
rival  school  of  Nisibis  and  as  bishop  of  that  city,  to  pro- 
mote it.  It  was  also  fostered  by  the  rivalry  of  the  govern- 
ments of  Constantinople,  and  of  Persia.  For,  while  the  or- 
thodox Theodosius,  and  the  rnonophysite  Zeno  strove  alike 
to  exterminate  Nestorianism  from  their  realm,  Barsumas 
easily  convinced  the  fire-worshipper  Firoz,  that  the  perse- 
cuted sect  would  be  favorable  to  his  interests,  and  that  the 
friends  of  orthodoxy  were  at  heart  traitors  to  his  govern- 
ment. The  archbishop  of  Seleucia,  either  from  fear  or  in- 
difference, stood  aloof  from  the  maneuvres  of  the  bishop, 
and  at  his  death  the  new  sect  had  so  multiplied  in  his  dio- 
cese, as  to  appoint  (in  A.  D.  498)  his  successor.  Thus  the 
Nestorians  assumed  the  attitude  of  the  dominant  Christian 
sect  of  Persia.* 

The  archbishop  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon  has  been  al- 
ready mentioned,  as  one  of  the  Catholicoses  beyond  the 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4:  p.  67,  ss. 


204        PATRIARCHATE    OF    SELEUCIA   AND    CTESIPHON. 

boundaries  of  the  Greek  empire,  who  originally  acknowl- 
edged the  supremacy  of  the  patriarch  of  Antioch.  The 
Christians  of  that  diocese  claimed  Thomas  as  their  apostle, 
inasmuch  as  he  passed  by  them  on  his  way  to  the  remoter 
regions  of  the  east.  But  their  see  owed  its  origin  to  Maris, 
a  disciple  of  the  Thaddeus  to  whom  the  church  of  Edessa 
looked  up  as  its  founder.*  In  A.  D.  162,  long  before  the 
diocese  was  infected  with  Nestorianism,  its  occupants  had 
ceased  to  go  for  consecration  to  Antioch,  where  they  were 
liable  to  be  seized  as  spies,  and  had  practised  receiving  the 
ordinance  from  the  hands  of  their  own  bishops.t  And 
when  the  infection  of  heresy  had  completely  severed  their 
still  nominal  connection  with  that  patriarchal  see,  they  as- 
sumed to  themselves  the  title  of  Patriarch  of  the  East,  as 
well  as  the  power  of  spiritually  independent  heads  of  the 
Nestorian  church. — The  Nestorians  did  not  receive  from 
all  the  Sassanians  such  decided  protection  as  from  Firoz, 
and  were  occasionally  persecuted ;  but  even  under  the  re- 
ligious intolerance  of  Nooshirwan,  their  patriarch  was  the 
acknowledged  head  of  all  the  Christians  of  Persia.|  Under 
the  Arabians,  too,  though  liable  like  all  Christians  to  ex- 
cessive exactions  and  repeated  persecutions,  they  were  ad- 
mitted to  many  offices  of  trust,  and  had  the  precedence  of 
every  other  body  of  Christians.^ 

Their  sect  was  now  widely  extended.  Besides  occupy- 
ing, almost  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  Christians,  the 
region  which  forms  the  modern  kingdom  of  Persia ;  they 
were  on  the  one  side  numerous  in  Mesopotamia  and  Ara- 
bia, had  their  metropolitans  in  Syria  and  Cyprus,  and  a 
bishop  even  in  the  island  of  Socotra,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  sea ;  and  on  the  other,  the  Syrian  Christians  of  Mal- 
abar in  Hindoostan  were  Nestorians,  and  received  their 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4  :  p.  3.  vol.  3:  p.  611. 

f  Ibid.  vol.  3:  p.  612.  vol.  4:  p.  41.  t  Ibid.  vol.  4:  p.  87,  ss. 

§  Idid.  vol.  4:  p.  95. 


EXTENSION   OF  NESTORIANISM.  205 

bishops  from  Seleucia.    Nestorian  churches  existed  in  Trans- 
oxiana  as  far  as  Kashgar ;  in  the  distant  regions  of  Mongo- 
lia, the  great  khan  of  the  Tartars  held  the  rank  of  presbyter 
in  the  Nestorian  church ;  and,  if  we  may  credit  a  monu- 
ment subsequently  discovered  by  papal  priests,  Nestorian 
missionaries   planted   churches  in  the   heart  of  northern 
China.*     In  a  word,  we  have  on  record  a  list  of  no  less 
than  twenty-five  metropolitans,  who  ackowledged  the  su- 
premacy  of   the   Nestorian   partiarch.f — Their    condition 
was  at  first  improved  by  the  exchange   of  Saracen   for 
Moghul  masters,    at   the   destruction   of   the   kalifate    of 
Bagdad  by  Hoolakoo  khan,  A.  D.  1258.     For,t  hough  the 
house  of  Chingiz  rose  upon  the  ruins  of  that  of  Prester 
John  (presbyter   Unkh   khan),  the   clerical    khan  of  the 
Tartars,  it  was  brought,  by  intermarriages  with  it,  under 
the  influence  of  its  religion.     Some  of  the  descendants  of 
the  Chingiz    openly    declared   themselves   Christians;    all 
were  for   several  generations  partial  to  Christianity;  and 
the  branch  which  invaded  Persia  showed  peculiar  respect  to 
the  head  of  the  Nestorian  church.     It  learned  to  persecute, 
however,  on  embracing  the  Mohammedan  faith ;  a  similar 
spirit  was  imbibed  by  the  Moghuls  wherever  its  example 
was  followed ;  and  at  length  Timoor  completed  the  banish- 
ment of  Christianity  from   Transoxiana,   exterminated  or 
effectually  concealed  it  in  Mongolia,  and  persecuted  unto 
death  multitudes  of  the  Nestorians  of  Persia. J 

The  original  residence  of  the  Nestorian  patriarchs  was 
at  Ctesiphon  and  Seleucia.  When  Bagdad  became  the 
capital  of  the  Saracen  empire,  in  A.  D.  762,  they  removed 
thither.  The  destruction  of  the  court  whose  favor  they 
there  cultivated,  broke  the  tie  which  connected  them  with 
that  city,  and  thenceforward  their  residence  seems  to  have 
been  constantly  varying,  until  the  patriarch  Elias,  in  A.  D. 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4:  p.  413,  ss.         f  Ibid-  vo1-  2 :  P-  458« 
t  Ibid.  vol.  4:  p.  101,481. 


206     CONVERSIONS  OF  NESTORIANS  TO  PAPACY. 

1559,  fixed  himself  at  Mosul.  His  successors  have  ever 
since  resided  in  that  vicinity,  and  have  also  borne  his 
name  ;  and  a  Mar  Elias  now  represents,  at  El  Koosh,  the 
ancient  patriarchs  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon.* — The  mod- 
ern history  of  the  Nestorians  is  taken  up  with  the  efforts  of 
papal  missionaries  to  convert  them  to  the  Romish  faith. 
The  few  that  lived  in  Cyprus  were  gained  over  as  early  as 
A.  D.  1445.f  In  A.  D.  1599,  the  Jesuits  forced  those  of 
Malabar  to  acknowledge  the  pope,  and  expunged  from 
their  church  books  all  anti-papal  doctrines. £  During  the 
seventeeth  century  Capuchin  and  Carmelite  monks  overran 
Mesopotamia  from  Diarbekr  to  Bussorah,  and  scattered 
widely  the  seeds  of  papacy. §  The  defection  of  the  met- 
ropolitan of  Diarbekr  from  the  Nestorian  faith,  and  the 
consequent  establishment  of  the  modern  papal  sect  and 
patriarchate  of  the  Chaldeans  during  that  century,  has 
been  already  mentioned.  Mar  Elias,  the  Nestorian  patri- 
arch himself,  was  also  gained  over,  and  in  A.  D.  1616 
sent  in  his  submission  to  the  pope.||  His  successors,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  regulated  their  obedience  by  their  con- 
venience, and  the  books  of  their  church  have  not,  so  far  as 
we  have  learned,  ever  been  expurgated  by  papal  censors. 

A  more  serious  defection  than  that  of  the  see  of  Diarbekr 
took  place  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Not  only  had  the  pa- 
triarchate then  remained,  for  nearly  a  century,  hereditary 
in  the  same  family,  but  the  incumbents  would  raise  none 
but  their  relatives  to  the  office  of  metropolitan.  Hence  it 
happened,  that  when  the  old  patriarch  died  in  A.  D.  1551, 
only  one  Metropolitan  was  left  in  the  church,  and  he,  being 
his  brother's  son,  was  heir  to  his  office.    Unwilling  to  tolerate 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4:  p.  622.  f  Ibid.  vol.  4:  p.  141. 

%  For  a  valuable  account  of  those  iniquitous  proceedings,  and  of  Nestori- 
anism  in  India,  see  L'Histoire  du  Christianisme  des  Indes.  By  M.  V. 
La  Croze. 

§  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  4:  p.  169.     H  Ibid.  4:  p.  169.  vol.  1:  p.  543. 


MAR    SHIMON.  207 

any  longer  such  a  system  of  hereditary  ecclesiastical   aris- 
tocracy, an  assembly  of  the  clergy  and  laity  met  in  the  city 
of  Mosul,  and  selected  another  ecclesiastic,  by  the  name  of 
Sulaka,  to  succeed  to  the  patriarchate.     His  consecration, 
however,  exceedingly  embarrassed  them,  for   according  to 
their  customs  the  ceremony   could  be  performed   only   by 
three  or  four  metropolitans,  whereas  only  one  officer  of  that 
rank  existed  in  the  church,  and   he  had  declared  himself 
patriarch.     It  was   determined  to  seek  the  performance  of 
the  rite  from  the  highest  authority,  and  Sulaka  was  sent 
to  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome,  where,  after  giving 
in  a  satisfactory  confession  of  his  faith,  he  was  proclaimed 
patriarch,  in  April  A.  D.  1553.     Only  his  immediate  suc- 
cessor   received    consecration    at   Rome,    where    he    sub- 
scribed the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Trent,  and  we  hear 
of  no  correspondence  between  this  see  and  the  pope  later 
than  A.D.  1653.    The  fourth  in  succession  from  Sulaka  was 
Simeon,  archbishop  of  Jeloo,  Sert  and  Salmas.     Since  his 
time,  the  capital  of  the  see  has  remained  in  the  mountains  of 
Kurdistan,  to  the  west  of  Oormiah,  and  its  occupants  have 
always  borne  the  name  of  Simeon,  or,  with  the  native  title 
and  pronunciation,  Mar  Shimon.* 

It  was  a  part  of  the  flock  of  this  patriarch,  that  we 
visited  in  our  journey  to  Oormiah,  and  which  I  am  now 
about  to  introduce  to  you.  I  shall  give  you  merely  our  own 
inquiries,  and  leave  you  to  compare  them  with  what  La 
Croze  and  Asseman  have  written  of  the  same  sect.  In- 
stead of  pursuing  the  plan  of  general  classification  adopted 
in  presenting  our  information  respecting  the  Armenians 
where  our  survey  was  more  extensive;  it  is  deemed  safer  here, 
considering  the  shortness  of  our  visit  to  the  Nestorians  to 
relate  separately  the  conversations  of  each  individual  in- 
formant. Such  a  course  will  necessarily  exhibit  some 
repetitions  and  contradictions ;  but  it  will  have  the  advan- 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  1:  p.  523,  536.  vol.  3:  p.  621.  vol.  4:  p.  164. 


208  OUR    ARRIVAL    AT    JAMALAVA. 

tage  of  referring  every  fact  to  its  proper  authority,  leaving 
the  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions,  and  throwing  upon 
the  writer  merely  the  responsibility  of  faithfully  narrating 
what  we  saw  and  heard.  The  whole  is  the  result  of  nine 
days'  investigation. 

We  left  Salmas  for  Oormiah  in  the  morning  on  the  11th  of 
March.    A  projection  of  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  extend- 
ing in  the  form  of  a  small  promontory  into  the  lake,  separates 
the  two  provinces.     As  we  began  to  ascend  it,  a  small  quarry 
.  of  marble  attracted  our  attention.     It  was  translucent  and 
veined,  like  that  which  is  so  abundant  at  Maragha,  and 
strongly  resembled   alabaster.     It  had  evidently  been  de- 
posited, in  successive  incrustations,  from  water.     We  found 
three  villages  and  a  few  fields  of  grain  on  the  mountains, 
and  in  some  places  snow  was  lying  in  our  path.     On  the 
farther  side,  a  narrow  plain,  opening  at  the  south  into  the 
plain  of  Oormiah,  lies  between  the  mountain  and  the  lake. 
We  descended  into  it,  and  found  a  number  of  little  villages 
at  its  northern  extremity,  in  several  of  which  there  are  a 
few  Nestorians.     We  selected  Jamalava,  4  fursakhs  from 
Khosrova,  for  its  being  the  residence  of  a  Nestorian  bishop. 
The  bishop  was  absent,  but  a  priest  received  us  hospitably, 
and  gave  us  the  choice  of  a  room  in  his  house,  or  a  stable. 
We  preferred  the  latter  ;  and  it  was  soon  filled  with  friend- 
ly Nestorians,  eager  to  see  and  converse  with  us.     Our  own 
gratification  was  great,  at  finding  ourselves  at  last  surround- 
ed by  the  people,  to  whom  we  had  looked  forward  with  the 
liveliest  interest  from  the  moment  of  leaving  Malta,  nor 
were  we  less  eager  than  they  to  converse. 

It  being  Friday,  we  first  questioned  the  priest  respect- 
ing the  fasts  of  his  church.  In  conjunction  with  the 
others  who  were  present,  he  informed  us  that  they  fast 
every  Wednesday  and  Friday;  twenty  five  days  before 
Christmas ;  fifteen  days  before  the  feast  of  St.  Mary ;  three 
days  before  the  feast  of  the  cross,  which  occurs  twelve  days 


NESTORIAN    FASTS.  209 

after  Christmas ;  three  days  before  the  feast  of  St.  John ; 
three  days  before  the  feast  of  Khoodera  neby  (St.  George) ; 
fifty  days  before  Easter,  including  Easter  Sunday  when 
they  eat  meat ;  and  fifty  days  before  Penticost,  the  obser- 
vance of  which  is  optional  and  not  regarded  by  all.  We 
asked,  as  he  finished  the  list,  if  there  were  no  more ;  and 
he  jocosely  replied,  '  Why,  are  not  these  enough  1  what  of 
the  year  remains  for  us  to  eat? '  But  the  bishop  afterward 
mentioned  another  fast  of  three  days,  named  after  the 
prophet  Jonah,  during  which  they  remain  in  the  church 
from  morning  to  night,  weeping,  praying  and  fasting.  It 
is  not,  like  the  rest,  followed  by  a. festival.  In  none  of 
their  fasts  do  they  eat  any  animal  substance  whatever,  and 
in  lent,  with  the  exception  of  Sundays  and  festivals,  they 
cat  but  twice,  once  after  midday  and  once  after  evening 
prayers,  and  some  eat  only  the  latter  meal.  On  the  Sun- 
days and  festivals  of  lent,  and  on  the  common  fasts,  whoev- 
er chooses  is  at  liberty  to  eat  in  the  morning.  The  priest 
assured  us,  that  for  the  fasts  of  Wednesday  and  Friday, 
they  cease  to  eat  meat  from  the  time  of  evening  prayers  on 
the  days  preceding  until  the  same  hour  on  those  days  them- 
selves ;  and  that  for  the  Sabbath,  labor  is  suspended  from 
evening  prayers  (or  about  sunset)  on  Saturday,  till  day- 
light (or  morning  prayers)  on  Monday.  His  statement 
was  afterward  confirmed  by  the  bishop.  In  fact,  it  is  well 
known,  that,  for  all  religious  purposes,  the  Nestorians 
always  consider  the  day  to  begin  at  sunset.  The  bishop 
added,  that  they  abstain  from  labor  on  their  festivals  gener- 
ally ;  but  the  Sabbath,  they  know  to  be  God's  day,  and 
esteem  it  more  sacred  than  any  other. 

They  informed  us,  that  throughout  the  year,  except  in 
lent,  there  are  services  in  the  church  only  morning  and 
evening  ;  but  that  during  lent,  a  third  service  at  11  A.  M. 
is  added,  unless  the  Sabbath  or  a  festival  occur,  when  even 
then   there    are  but   two.     As  we  were   conversing,   the 

VOL.  II.  19 


210  EVENING    PRAYERS. 

priest  was  called  to  evening  prayers  by  the  clattering  of  a 
board  suspended  near  the  church  instead  of  a  bell,  and  we 
followed  him.  The  bishop  had  now  returned,  and  after 
washing  his  hands  at  a  rivulet,  he  led  us  into  the  church. 
The  people  took  off  their  shoes  as  they  entered,  and  stood 
upon  a  few  mats  that  covered  the  ground,  the  only  floor  of 
the  building.  Before  taking  his  place,  however,  each  one 
kissed  a  cross  that  lay  upon  a  book  on  a  reading  desk, 
and  then  the  back  of  the  bishop's  hand  who  stood  by  its 
side.  This  was  done  even  after  worship  commenced,  so 
that  in  the  midst  of  a  prayer  the  bishop  had  repeatedly  to 
put  oat  his  hand  to.be  kissed.  The  bishop,  priest  and 
deacons,  each  had  distinct  parts  in  the  services ;  which 
consisted  of  prayers,  chants  and  responses,  performed  with 
almost  no  ceremonies,  and  having  an  air  of  great  simplici* 
ty.  All  the  officiators  wore  nothing  but  their  ordinary 
dress ;  and  no  incense  was  used.  The  people  often  joined 
in  the  responses ;  uncovered  their  heads  two  or  three  times, 
at  particular  parts  ;  repeatedly  crossed  themselves ;  and 
prostrating  kissed  the  earth  like  the  Armenians,  and  once 
all  kneeled  for  some  time,  as  if  in  private  prayer.  At  the 
close,  the  bishop  blessed  them,  and  they  again  kissed  his 
hand.  With  the  simplicity  of  their  forms  we  were  pleased, 
but  were  sorry  to  observe  much  evidence  that  their  wor- 
ship had  no  spirituality. 

The  church  was  a  small,  dark,  vaulted  room,  entirely 
destitute  of  pictures  or  any  kind  of  ornaments,  except 
coarse  shawls  which  covered  the  reading  desks.  These 
were  two  blocks  of  stone  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to 
the  sanctuary,  and  supported  the  books  from  which  service 
was  read.  Between  them  and  the  sanctuary  was  a  narrow 
space  extending  from  side  to  side  of  the  building,  and  en- 
closed by  a  wall  four  or  five  feet  high.  The  sanctuary  itself 
seemed  half  as  large  as  the  church,  and  was  connected  with 
it  by  a  single  door.     Opposite  the  door,  on  the  farther  side 


BISHOP    MAR    YOHANNA.  211 

of  it,  stood  the  altar,  a  plain  block  stone.  The  bishop 
conducted  us  into  the  baptistery,  a  small  room  on  the  left 
of  the  sanctuary,  and  connected  with  the  church  by  a  dis- 
tinct door.  After  looking  a  moment  at  a  plain  stone 
trough,  which  served  for  a  baptismal  font,  I  observed  that 
a  door  conducted  into  the  sanctuary,  and  was  about  to  enter. 
But  the  bishop  commanded  me,  in  an  authoritative  tone,  to 
stop.  I  told  him  that  I  too  was  a  priest ;  but  he  replied, 
that  that  place  can  be  entered  only  by  fasting,  and  betray- 
ed by  his  manner  such  earnestness,  that  I  desisted.  The 
church,  as  well  as  an  outer  court,  was  entered  by  a  door  but 
just  large  enough  to  allow  our  bodies  to  pass,  being  hardly 
more  than  two  feet  high,  and  narrow  in  proportion.  Af- 
ter creeping  out  of  them,  we  inquired  the  reason  of  their 
smallness.  The  bishop  replied,  '  Is  it  not  written,  "  Strait 
is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  the  way?'"  We  had  ob- 
served a  similar  peculiarity  in  the  Chaldean  churches  of 
Salmas,  and  had  been  told  that  its  object  was  to  prevent 
moslems  from  introducing  their  horses.  It  was  observed 
to  be  common  to  the  Nestorian  churches  of  Oormiah,  and 
we  never  heard  it  satisfactorily  explained. 

The  bishop  with  most  of  his  flock,  followed  us  to  our 
stable,  and  remained,  readily  answering  our  questions  and 
keeping  up  a  friendly  conversation,  until  late.  His  name 
v/as  Yohanna.  He  was  a  sensible  man,  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  son  of  the  priest  already  mentioned. 
His  uncle  was  bishop  before  him ;  and  the  office,  among 
the  Nestorians,  is  always  hereditary,  from  uncle  to  nephew. 
A  bishop  himself  is  never  allowed  to  marry,  nor  may  he, 
from  the  day  of  his  birth,  eat  any  other  animal  food  than 
eggs  and  the  productions  of  the  dairy. 

We  had  anticipated  some  difficulty,  in  conversing  with 
the  Nestorians,  for  want  of  an  interpreter.  But  Provi- 
dence furnished  us  with  an  excellent,  one  at  Jamalava,  and 
elsewhere  we  were  able  to  converse  with  them  through  the 


212  LANGUAGE   OF  THE    NESTORIANS. 

Turkish,  with  the  addition  of  now  and  then  a  religions 
technical  term  from  the  Armenian,  which  language  they  al- 
so partially  understood.  Our  interpreter  here  was  a  nephew 
of  the  deceased  bishop  Shevris.  He  was  a  native  of  Mar- 
din  in  Mesopotamia,  had  lived  nine  years  a  monk  in 
the  convent  of  El  Koosh,  and  held  the  rank  of  deacon  in 
the  Chaldean  church.  He  spoke  Arabic  fluently,  and  that 
was  the  language  in  which  he  conversed  with  me.  With 
the  Nestorians,  he  spoke  in  their  own  dialect,  which  was 
also  his  native  tongue.  We  had  first  heard  this  language 
at  Khosrova,  and  it  proved  to  be  the  domestic  dialect  of 
both  the  Chaldeans  and  the  Nestorians,  though  all  knew 
likewise  something  of  Turkish.  In  roughness  of  sound,  it 
exceeded  even  the  Armenian.  I  was  able  soon  to  detect 
in  it  many  Arabic  and  Hebrew  words,  but  rarely  enough 
to  complete  the  meaning  of  a  sentence.  Almost  every 
word  seemed  to  end  in  a  vowel.  It  is  in  fact  a  vulgar 
Syriac,  and  the  deacon  testified,  that  it  differs  not  at  all 
from  the  dialect  now  spoken  by  the  Jacobites  of  Mesopota- 
mia. Their  church  books  show  the  original  language  of 
which  it  is  a  corruption,  and  they  are  in  Syriac.  The 
character  indeed,  in  which  they  are  written,  is  peculiar,  be- 
ing but  slightly  varied  from  the  Estangelo.  Many  of  their 
oldest  books  are,  in  fact,  fine  specimens  of  that  ancient 
Syriac  alphabet.  We  procured  a  copy  of  the  Nestorian 
alphabet,  with  the  sounds  of  the  letters  exemplified.  It 
has  not,  to  our  knowledge,  ever  been  printed,  and  we  found 
none  but  manuscript  books  among  them.  Aside  from  the 
character,  their  church  books  are  in  good  Syriac.  The 
Chaldean  priest  at  Khosrova  showed  us  a  beautiful  copy  of 
the  Pentateuch,  which  he  had  had  transcribed  into  the 
Nestorian  character  from  the  Syriac  of  Walton's  Polyglott, 
and  he  assured  us  that  the  language  is  exactly  the  same  as 
that  of  their  books.  All  testified  unanimously,  that  this 
language  is  not  now  understood  without  the  instructions  of 


LANGUAGE    OF    THE    NESTORIANS.  213 

a  master,  and  of  course  that  the  church  services  are  not 
comprehended  by  the  common  people.  That  the  vulgar 
dialect  differs  not  much  from  it,  however,  will  be  evident 
from  various  facts  hereafter  to  be  exhibited.  The  bishop 
and  priest  this  evening  were  evidently  men  of  the  slight- 
est education,  having  little  more  than  a  knowledge  of  let- 
ters. And  yet,  when  we  produced  a  copy  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society's  edition  of  the  Syriac  New 
Testament,  which  we  had  brought  from  Tebriz,  they  set 
to  reading  it  without  difficulty,  and  declared  that  they  un- 
derstood it.  They  might  indeed  have  been  previously 
familiar  with  the  character,  for  they  called  it  Yakoby  at 
first  sight,  and  we  found  among  their  own  books  a  copy  of 
the  Pentateuch  in  the  same.  But  we  tested  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  language,  by  making  them  translate  several 
passages,  and  they  did  it  without  difficulty.  They  affirmed 
that  it  differed  not  at  a!l  from  that  of  their  church  books.* 

Our  conversation  with  the  bishop  naturally  turned  upon 
the  services  which  we  had  just  attended ;  and  we  expressed 
our  pleasure  at  observing  no  images  or  pictures  in  the 
church.  *  Is  it  not  written  by  the  Psalmist,'  said  he, ' "  eyes 
have  they  but  they  see  not,  they  have  ears  but  they  hear 
not,  neither  is  there  any  breath  in  their  mouths  I '  "    We  ad- 

*  The  bishop  gave  us,  on  anotL^r  occasion,  the  following  list  of  the  prin- 
cipal books  used  in  the  services  of  the  Nestorian  church ;  but  I  am  not 
without  suspicions,  that  it  contains  some  errors. — David,  or  the  Psalter, 
read  at  every  service.  Akddm  Dooatha,  alternate  prayers  for  every  day 
in  the  week,  containing  the  names  of  different  saints  and  martyrs.  Kesh- 
kool,  containing  prayers  for  every  day  in  the  year.  Khoodera,  containing 
prayers  for  the  Lord's  day,  and  other  festivals  in  the  year,  and  for  every  day 
in  lent.  Gezza,  containing  prayers  for  the  festivals  not  in  lent.  Takhsa, 
or  the  Missal,  containing  the  communion,  ordination,  baptismal  and  other 
similar  services.  Werde,  containing  legends  of  the  saints,  and  read  only 
in  the  three  days  of  the  fast  of  Jonah.  Ahdedta,  or  the  Gospel,  read  always 
at  the  communion,  on  the  Lord's  days  and  festivals,  and  in  lent,  but  at  no 
other  time.  Shleeha,  or  the  Epistles,  read  like  the  preceding.  None  of  the 
Old  Testament,  except  the  Psalter,  is  read  in  church. 
VOL.  II.  19* 


214  ADORATION    OF    THE    SAINTS. 

ded  the  second  commandment  to  this  appropriate  quotation, 
and  they  all  seemed  gratified  at  our  agreement  upon  so 
important  a  point.  He  confessed  that  they  pray  to  the 
saints,  however,  and  regard  them  as  mediators.  We  re- 
peated the  language  of  Paul,  that  there  is  'one  God,  and 
one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  f 
but  he  seemed  not  to  feel  its  force,  because,  as  I  thought, 
neither  the  deacon,  who  interpreted,  nor  himself  understood 
the  word  mediator.  The  former,  I  soon  learned,  had  no 
distinct  idea  of  the  Arabic  term  waseet,  which  I  used ;  and 
when  a  copy  of  the  Epistles  was  afterward  brought  from 
the  church,  it  proved  that  the  bishop  was  equally  unac- 
quainted with  the  Syriac  term  for  the  same  thing.  When 
inquiring  the  contents  of  their  church  books  on  a  subse- 
quent evening,  we  repeatedly  asked  if  prayers  are  ad- 
dressed to  the  saints  whose  names  are  contained  in  them, 
and  were  uniformly  answered  that  they  are  not,  but  to  God 
that  he  would  enable  his  worshipers  to  imitate  them. — 
The  bishop  declared  that  they  call  not  the  Virgin,  mother 
of  God,  but  mother  of  Christ.  Still  they  believe  in  her 
virginity,  he  said,  both  before  and  after  the  birth  of  our 
Savior.  Respecting  Nestorius,  he  contradicted  himself 
flatly  within  a  few  minutes ;  first  denying  that  they  regard 
him  as  a  saint,  or  pray  to  him,  and  then  confessing  that 
they  do  both.  The  mention  of  the  founder  of  their  sect  in- 
troduced quite  a  dispute  between  him  and  the  deacon,  on 
the  comparative  merits  of  Nestorius  and  Cyril,  and  he  pro- 
duced the  Werde  to  read  to  us  a  long  legend  respecting 
them. — He  constantly  affirmed  that  their  name  is  not  de- 
rived from  Nestorius,  but  from  Nazareth  the  town  of  Mary, 
and  I  doubt  not  that  he  was  correct.  For  they  always  call 
themselves,  and  are  known  among  their  neighbors  of  other 
sects,  by  the  name  Nusrdny,  which  is  the  very  word  com- 
monly used  in  Arabic  to  designate  all  Christians,  and  is 
generally  regarded   as   equivalent  to  Nazarene.      Indeed 


PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  215 

they  seemed  to  feel  that  it  is  a  generic  term,  and  some- 
times added  Siridny  to  make  it  distinctive  of  their  sect ; 
which  was  equivalent  to  calling  themselves  Syrian  Chris- 
tians. Their  countrymen  of  the  monophysite  church,  they 
called  Yakoby.  There  are  none  of  that  sect  on  this  side 
of  the  Kurdish  mountains. 

The  bishop  allowed  that  they  say  prayers  and  masses 
for  the  dead.  Still  he  resolutely  denied  the  existence  of 
more  than  two  places  for  departed  spirits,  and  seemed  in- 
clined to  laugh  at  the  fires  of  the  papal  purgatory.  He 
clearly  declared,  also,  that  here  is  no  change  of  place  from 
misery  to  happiness  for  the  dead.  We  asked  him  of  what 
use  our  prayers  can  be  to  them.  He  replied,  '  What  then, 
shall  we  stop  praying?'  *  No,'  said  we, '  pray  for  ourselves, 
and  others  upon  the  earth  ;  for  such  we  are  commanded  to 
pray  ;  but  stop  praying  for  the  dead,  it  can  do  them  no 
good.'  He  replied,  that  God  would  have  spared  Sodom  for 
the  sake  of  fifty,  forty,  &c.  just  persons  ;  and  perhaps 
among  those  who  assemble  to  pray  over  the  dead,  an  equal 
number  of  just  persons  may  be  found,  for  whose  sake  God 
will  pardon  the  dead  and  receive  them  to  happiness.  He 
seemed  to  have  some  idea  of  the  unscriptural  distinction  be- 
tween mortal  and  venial  sins ;  for  he  said,  that  there  are 
some  which  condemn  the  soul  to  hell,  while  others  are  too 
small  to  be  followed  by  such  a  consequence.  Respecting 
the  soul  between  death  and  the  judgment,  he  declared,  in 
another  connection,  that  it  goes  neither  to  heaven  nor  to 
hell,  but  if  wicked,  it  is  in  a  state  of  torment,  and  if  right- 
eous, in  a  state  of  enjoyment.  At  the  judgment,  all  will 
be  clothed  again  with  the  body,  the  just  will  be  taken  to 
heaven  with  Christ,  and  the  wicked  will  be  sent  to  hell. 
1  Will  they  remain  in  hell  forever?'  we  asked.  '  Yes,'  said 
he,  '  forever  and  ever.'  We  could  not  learn  from  him,  that 
any  other  rule  than  the  wishes  of  relatives  decides  when, 
or  how  often,  masses  shall  be  said  for  the  deceased.  '  If 


216  STATE    OF   THE    DEAD    BEFORE    CHRIST. 

they  choose,  no  mass  is  said  at  all,  and  the  priest  is  merely 
requested  to  repeat  a  prayer.  Even  this,  also,  is  omitted  at 
their  option.  In  speaking  of  the  masses,  he  said,  that  after 
them  the  relatives  go  home  from  the  church  to  eat  the  feast 
of  the  mass,  and  we  asked  if  they  have  the  custom  of  mak- 
ing sacrifices.  He  replied,  that  Christ  had  abolished  the 
institution  of  sacrifices,  so  that  since  his  death  none  can  be 
offered  ;  yet  they  sometimes  slay  an  animal  as  a  good  work. 
The  ceremony  is  not  necessarily  done  at  a  church,  nor  on 
any  special  days,  nor  are  prayers  said  over  the  victim. 
The  deacon  who  interpreted  was  dissatisfied  with  this 
statement,  and  said;  'I  will  explain  to  you  the  matter. 
Whenever  a  person  has  a  headache,  or  other  complaint,  he 
vows  to  make  an  offering  to  this  or  that  saint,  as  a  good 
work.  An  animal  is  sent  to  the  church  of  the  saint  to  be 
sacrificed,  and  a  feast  is  made  of  its  flesh,  or  it  is  dis- 
tributed to  the  poor,  according  to  the  wish  of  the  offerer.' 
The  bishop  tacitly  assented  to  the  explanation,  by  asking  if 
we  do  not  likewise  offer  sacrifices  to  remove  pains  and 
sickness. 

We  inquired  where  the  souls  of  the  dead  were  before  the 
coming  of  Christ.  He  replied,  that  the  good  were  not  in 
paradise  itself,  but  in  a  state  of  enjoyment  around  para- 
dise ;  and  the  wicked  were  not  in  hell  itself,  but  in  a  state 
of  misery. — We.  Did  Christ  change  their  condition  at  his 
death  ? — Bish.  He  took  them  to  heaven. — We.  Both  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked  1  or  the  righteous  only  1 — Bish. 
All  except  four  persons,  viz.  Jezebel,  Herod,  Herodi- 
as,  and  her  daughter.  .What  is  your  own  belief? — We. 
We,  believe  that  the  souls  of  the  righteous  went  to  heaven, 
and  those  of  the  wicked  to  hell,  at  their  death  ;  and  that 
none  of  the  latter  were  delivered  from  their  torments  at 
the  death  of  Christ. — Bish.  But  it  is  written,  that  Christ 
came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance. 
The  righteous  are  saved   as  a  matter  of  course,   and  if  he 


MAR    SHIMON.  217 

did  not  deliver  the  wicked,  of  what  use  was  his  death  1 — 
We.  Why,  in  the  first  place,  none  are  so  righteous  as  to 
have  no  sin,  for  it  is  written,  "  There  is  not  a  just  man 
upon  earth,  that  doeth  good,  and  sinneth  not."  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  he  did  save  the  wicked,  for  some,  while  in  this 
world,  repented  of  their  sins,  were  converted,  and  obtained 
forgiveness  on  his  account.  The  souls  of  such,  and  of  such 
only  went  to  heaven  at  their  death. — Bish.  If  so,  perhaps 
only  a  few  hundreds  were  saved  from  all  the  generations 
that  preceded  Christ ;  for  very  small  was  the  number  of 
those  that  were  good  in  this  world. — We.  Their  number 
is  unknown  to  us.  Elijah  thought  that  he  was  the  only 
worshiper  of  the  true  God  among  the  Israelites  of  his  day ; 
but  God  told  him  there  were  seven  thousand  who  had  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal. 

March  12.  We  called  upon  the  bishop  in  the  afternoon, 
and  resumed  our  conversation.  He  confirmed  what  we 
had  previously  learned,  that  his  patriarch,  Mar  Shimon, 
resides  at  Kochannes,  and  claims  the  title  of  Patriarch  of 
the  East.  Kochannes,  according  to  the  declaration  of  a 
man  at  Khosrova  who  had  been  there,  is  not  more  than  an 
hour  from  Joolamerk ;  but  the  priest  at  that  place  said  the 
distance  was  four  fursakhs.  The  latter  informed  us  that 
the  patriarchate,  like  what  has  already  been  said  of  the 
episcopate,  is  hereditary  from  uncle  to  nephew.  The  suc- 
cession is  not  regulated  by  seniority,  but  by  the  wishes  and 
arrangement  of  the  family.  The  diet  of  the  patriarch  is 
more  strictly  guarded  than  even  that  of  the  bishops,  for  not 
only  is  he  forbidden  to  taste  meat  from  his  birth,  but  his 
mother  also  is  allowed  to  eat  none,  while  he  derives  his 
nutriment  from  her. 

The  Hakary  country,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  patri^ 
arch  resides,  and  of  which  Joolamerk  is  the  capital,  is  the 
heart  of  Kurdistan,  and  consists  of  almost  inaccessible 
mountains.      The   Nestorians   who   inhabit  it  are   called 


•218 


NESTORIANS    OF    KURDISTAN. 


Ashiret,  a  term  which  the  bishop  to-day  explained  as  mean- 
ing a  people  who  do  not  pay  tribute.  They  are  in  fact,  he 
said,  independent,  and  not  only  pay  no  tribute  themselves, 
but  exact  tribute  from  the  Kurds  who  live  among  them. 
The  temporal  power  is  in  the  hands  of  distinct  meliks,  but 
they  all  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  patriarch.  He 
estimated  their  number  at  50,000  families. — The  Chal- 
dean priest  at  Khosrova  said,  that  the  independent  districts 
are  deep  valleys  shut  in  by  the  almost  impassable  moun- 
tains of  Kurdistan.  Each  has  its  own  melik  or  meliks, 
who  acknowledge  subjection  to  no  common  head.  They 
are  elected  for  life,  by  the  the  popular  voice  irregularly 
expressed,  and  the  office  is  often,  but  not  always,  hered- 
itary in  the  same  family.  The  patriarch  is  clothed  prop- 
erly with  only  spiritual  power,  and  has  no  army  at  his  com- 
mand, except  as  he  may  have  influence  enough,  on  an  emer- 
gency, to  call  one  or  more  of  the  meliks  to  his  aid.  The 
mountains,  he  said,  barely  afford  them  a  sustenance,  and  they 
are  all  miserably  poor.  To  complete  the  diocese  of  Mar 
Shimon,  we  must  add  other  districts  in  the  same  moun- 
tains subject  to  the  Kurds,  and  also  Salmas  and  Oormiah 
under  the  Persian  government.  The  whole  contains,  ac- 
cording to  an  estimated  census  give  us  by  the  same  priest 
at  Khosrova,  in  company  with  a  Chaldean  of  his  village 
who  had  travelled  through  the  independent  districts,  a 
Nestorian  population  of  14,054  families,  or  about  70,000 
souls.* — The  acting  English  embassador  at  Tebriz  judged 

*  The  following  is  his  estimate  in  detail. 

No.  of  families. 
Salmas,  ,.„.-.-.  4 

Oormiah,  including  Tergaver  and  Mergaver,  mountainous  districts 

of  the  province  occupied  by  Kurds,  ...  4000 

Garvar,  Somai,  and  Chara,  small  districts  of  the  mountains  adja- 
cent to  Salmas,  and  occupied  by  Kurds,     -  150 

Albagh,  a  district  not  far  from  Salmas  in  the  direction   of  Joola^ 

nierk,  and  subject  to  the  Kurds,     -  100 


NESTOIUANS    OF    KURDISTAN.  219 

this  estimate  to  be  much  too  small,  and  declared  that 
a  year  or  two  ago  he  saw  a  letter  from  Mar  Shimon, 
stating  that  he  had  40,000  families  under  him  in  the  Hak- 
ary  county.  But,  the  fact  that  one  of  his  predecessors,  in* 
writing  to  the  pope  as  long  ago  as  1653,  made  the  same 
statement  of  the  population  of  his  diocese,  leads  me  to  sus- 
pect that  it  is  no  more  than  a  hereditary  estimate.*  Capt. 
Campbell  assured  us,  also,  that  the  Nestorians  are  by  far 
the  most  powerful  people  of  Hakary,  that  they  are  much 
feared  by  the  Kurds,  and  will  perhaps,  before  many  years, 
be  left  by  them  in  undivided  possession  of  the  country. 
He  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  their  character. 

The  priest  at  Khosrova  informed  us,  that  the  Nestorians 
of  Oormiah  did  not  join  the  party  of  Mar  Shimon  at  its 
first  secession  from  the  see  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesiphon,  and 
continued  until  lately  to  acknowledge  the  patriarchal  au- 
thority of  Mar  Elias  of  El  Koosh.  The  occasion  of  their 
finally  leaving  him,  was  his  conversion  to  papacy ;  which 
occurred,  according  to  the  estimate  of  the  priest,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  ago,  but  the  bishop  of  Jamalava  placed  it 
back  only  forty  years.  The  deacon,  our  interpreter,  had 
left  his  convent  only  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  and  added  the 
fact  of  his  own  staunch  papacy  to  his  positive  declaration, 
as  proof  that  both  Mar  Elias  and  the  convent,  as  well  as 

Mahmoodieh,   a  district   between   Sahnas  and  the  lake  of  Van, 

included  in  the  pashalik  of  Van,  but  occupied  by  Kurds, 
Waltoo,  a  district  beyond  Joolamerk,  and  subject  to  the  Kurds, 
Diss,  an  independent  Nestorian  district,  ... 

Jeloo,  "  "  " 

Tkhooby,      "  «  "       - 

Tiary,  "  «  "  -  .  . 

Bass,  "  "  " 

Berwer,        "  "  «... 

Total,  14,054 

In  Maragha,  Tebriz,  Giinieh,  and  Khoy,  there  are  now  no  Nestorian?. 
*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  3:  p.  622. 


220  DIOCESE    OF    THE    BISHOP    OP   JAMALAVA. 

most  of  the  Nestorians  of  those  parts,  are  now  united  to  the 
church  of  Rome.  He  said  that  the  convent  of  El  Koosh 
contains  110  monks.  The  principal  agent  of  the  pope  in 
•those  parts  is  a  European  bishop  at  Bagdad.  Being  like- 
wise French  consul  for  that  city,  he  contrives  to  make  his 
influence  extensively  felt.  From  what  we  heard  of  him  at 
Khosrova,  and  from  the  deacon,  we  inferred  that  he  is  par- 
ticularly active  in  procuring  the  conversion  of  the  Nestori- 
ans.— We  questioned  the  bishop  of  Jamalava,  to  ascertain 
if  he  was  aware  of  the  existence  of  any  relics  of  the  Nes- 
torian  church  in  eastern  Asia.  He  was  quite  confident 
that  there  are  some  in  India,  but  he  knew  of  none  in  the 
direction  of  China.  His  patriarch,  he  assured  us,  sent 
four  bishops  many  years  ago  to  the  East,  but  nothing  had 
been  heard  from  them. 

From  the  diocese  of  Mar  Shimon,  the  patriarch,  let  us 
turn  to  that  of  Mar  Yohanna,  the  bishop  of  Jamalava.  He 
informed  us,  that  the  Nestorians  of  this  village  are  only 
twenty-two  families  in  number.  Six  of  them  are  from  Sal- 
mas,  and  the  rest  have  recently  assembled  here  from  neigh- 
boring villages.  He  is  himself  from  Gooleeza  in  Salmas. 
Respecting  the  Nestorians  of  that  province,  he  contradicted 
the  estimate  of  the  priest  at  Khosrova,  and  said  that  instead 
of  four,  they  amount  to  twenty-two  families.  His  diocese 
consists  of  twelve  villages,  eight  of  which  are  in  Oormiah, 
and  the  rest  in  Tergaver,  a  mountainous  district  just  back 
of  Jamalava  to  the  west.  In  this  village  there  is  no  school, 
nor  can  any  read,  except  himself,'  his  father  and  two 
brothers;  but  in  two  others  some  children  are  taught  by 
the  priests.  He  confessed  that  none  of  the  Nestorian 
females  are  taught  letters.  'You,'  said  he,  'can  attend  to 
such  things,  but  we,  both  men  and  women,  are  obliged  to 
labor  with  all  our  might  to  get  money  for  the  moslems. 
Even  if  a  boy  sits  down  to  read,  a  moslem  comes  up  before 
he  is  aware,  and  with  a  blow  upon  his  neck,  says,  'Give 


ORDERS   OF    THE    NESTORIAN    CLERGY.  221 

us  money.'  Seeing  us  smile  at  his  remark,  he  seemed 
grieved,  and  exclaimed  with  more  earnestness;  'Why  do 
you  leave  us  thus  ?  we  are  your  brethren ;  it  is  your  duty 
to  come  and  deliver  us  from  this  yoke  of  bondage.'  He 
contended  that  no  people  in  the  world  are  so  fond  of  learn* 
ing  as  the  Nestorians,  but  intimated  that  none  except  can- 
didates for  the  clerical  profession,  actually  receive  any 
education.  Of  such,  there  were  twelve  in  his  diocese  al- 
ready instructed,  and  would  be  admitted  to  deacon's  orders 
in  a  few  days.  Forty-two  others  were  candidates ;  besides 
fifteen  more,  who  were  studying,  and  might  be  ordained 
hereafter,  if  they  became  good.  His  diocese  is  now  served, 
he  said,  by  fourteen  priests  and  eleven  deacons. 

The  bishop  was  curious  to  know  how  many  orders  of 
the  clergy  we  have,  and  on  learning  that  we  acknowledge 
only  priests  and  deacons,  was  unable  to  imagine  how  they 
could  be  ordained  without  bishops.  But  he  made  no 
objection  to  our  explanation  of  the  system  of  presbyte- 
rian  ordination.  Their  own  clerical  orders,  he  said,  are 
nine,  and  he  seemed  to  attach  much  importance  to  the 
number.  The  following  is  his  account  of  them. — The 
first,  karooya,  or  reader,  lights  the  candles  and  performs 
other  menial  services  in  the  church. — The  second,  hoopo- 
dydkono,  or  sub-deacon,  is  also  a  servant  of  the  church 
for  sweeping  it  and  the  like. — The  third,  shemmdsJia,  or 
deacon,  aids  the  priest  to  celebrate  the  eucharist,  but  does 
not  read  the  gospel  on  that  occasion,  as  is  practised 
by  other  sects. — The  fourth,  kasha  [Jcasheesha],  or  priest, 
says  mass,  but  cannot  confer  ordination.  All  his  own 
priests,  he  affirmed,  understand  the  language  of  their 
church  books,  and  preach  every  day,  as  he  will  ordain  no 
other.  But  his  ideas  of  preaching  seemed  not  very  high, 
and  we  could  not  ascertain  that  he  meant  any  thing  more, 
than  that  the  lesson  of  the  day,  and  perhaps  some  other 
part  of  the  service,  is  explained  in  the  vulgar  tongue.     He 

vol.  ii.  20 


222  ORDERS    OF    THE    NESTORlAN  CLERGY. 

declared  too  that  none  who  have  not  attained  the  age  o{ 
twenty-five,  can  be  admitted  to  priest's  orders.  But  on 
being  contradicted  by  the  company,  he  allowed  that  if  a 
youth  has  a  mature  mind,  and  a  worthy  character,  and  is 
acceptable  to  his  village,  he  may  be  ordained  as  early  as 
fifteen.— -The  fifth,  arkidyakono,  or  archdeacon,  holds  a  re- 
lation to  the  bishop,  similar  to  that  of  the  deacon  to  the 
priest.  As  a  priest  cannot  say  mass  without  a  deacon,  so 
a  bishop  cannot  perform  an  ordination,  nor  consecrate  a 
church,  without  an  archdeacon.  Marriage  is  allowable  to 
all  in  the  five  grades  now  enumerated,  not  only  before 
ordination,  but  as  often  as  their  wives  die  afterward. 
They  thereby,  however,  become  forever  ineligible  to  the 
office  of  bishop. — The  sixth,  hhalfa  [episkopa],  or  bishop, 
ordains  the  five  lower  grades,  and  consecrates  churches. 
He  must  pass  through  all  the  grades  below  him,  but  may 
be  admitted  to  the  first  four  successively  in  one  day,  and 
on  another  day  to  the  fifth  and  sixth.  Our  informant  was 
no  more  consistent  in  telling  us  the  age  requisite  for  admis- 
sion to  the  episcopate,  than  in  reference  to  the  priesthood. 
For  he  assured  us  that  the  candidate  must  be  thirty-two 
years  old,  and  afterward  confessed  that  he  was  himself 
now  only  in  his  thirtieth  or  thirty-first  year,  and  had  been 
ordained  five  years.  The  priest  at  Khosrova  said  the  Nes- 
torians  sometimes  ordain  bishops  only  six  years  of  age,  and 
the  deacon,  our  interpreter  to-day,  affirmed  that  he  had  seen 
them  as  young  as  thirteen.  Their  common  episcopal  ad- 
dress, aboona  (our  father),  must  seem  not  a  little  misplaced 
when  given  to  such  young  ecclesiastics ;  and  it  was  hardly 
less  amusing  to  hear  the  priest  at  Jamalava,  constantly 
apply  the  same  title  to  the  bishop,  his  son. — The  seventh, 
matrdn  [metrapoleeta],  is  higher  than  the  bishops,  and  re- 
ceives from  them  a  visit  of  homage  three  times  a  year. — 
The  eighth  and  ninth,  katoleeJca  and  patriarlca,  or  catholi- 
cos  and  patriarch,  ordain  bishops  and  matrans.    He  affirm- 


THEIR    SUPPORT.  223 

ed  that  they  are  offices  held  by  two  different  individuals,  but 
found  so  much  difficulty  in  making  it  out,  on  being  cross- 
questioned,  that  we  imagined  them  to  to  be  merely  differ- 
ent titles  of  the  same  person.  Oil  is  used  only  in  ordain- 
ing the  patriarch. — He  informed  us  that  in  the  district  of 
Jeloo  there  are  some  Nestorian  convents.  The  monks, 
though  forbidden  to  marry  while  they  profess  monasticism, 
are  allowed,  he  said,  to  leave  their  convents,  if  they  dislike 
them,  and  take  to  themselves  wives. 

The  contributions  received  by  the  patriarch  from  his 
flock,  if  we  may  believe  the  bishop,  are  not  fixed  by  any 
rule,  but  their  voluntary  liberality.  He  never  comes  to  this 
province  in  person  to  collect  them,  being  afraid  to  leave  his 
mountain  fastnesses,  but  sends  his  brother  once  in  two  or 
three  years.  He  was  here,  and  also  at  Khosrova,  but  a 
few  days  before  our  visit. — The  income  of  the  bishop  is 
derived  chiefly  from  a  tax  of  two  shahies  (about  3  cts.) 
upon  every  individual  in  his  diocese ;  and  a  fee  of  one 
real  (about  35  cts.)  for  every  wedding.  He  receives  also, 
sometimes,  a  voluntary  contribution  for  masses  for  the 
dead.  For  ordination,  Mar  Yohanna  positively  denied,  at 
first,  that  any  thing  is  paid,  but,  being  pressed  by  the  dea- 
con, he  at  last  said,  that,  as  it  is  commanded,  "  Freely  ye 
have  received  freely  give,"  no  particular  sum  is  exacted  by 
law,  but  different  amounts  are  given  by  different  candi- 
dates.— The  income  of  the  priests  is  exceedingly  small, 
and'  most  of  their  support  is  derived  from  laboring  like  other 
men.  In  time  of  harvest,  each  parishioner  gives  them  a 
day's  labor  at  reaping,  or,  if  they  have  no  crop  of  their  own, 
a  winnowing  fan  full  of  grain.  For  every  marriage  they 
receive  a  real ;  and  for  baptisms,  burials,  and  masses  and 
prayers  for  the  dead,  a  voluntary  fee.  But  for  communi- 
cants to  contribute  any  thing  to  the  officiating  priest  at 
communion,  is  a  thing,  he  said,  not  allowed  and  entirely 
unknown. 


224        IDEAS  OF  THE  WAY  OF  SALVATION. 

Wishing  to  know  if  the  Nestorians  have  any  idea  of  the 
doctrines  of  evangelical  religion,  we  inquired  of  the  bishop 
the  object  of  Christ's  death.     He  began  his  reply  by  saying, 
that  God   created  man  and  placed  him  in  Paradise.     The 
angels  were  then  ordered  to  worship  him.     But  a  part,  un- 
willing to  worship  an  inferior  who  was  created  after  them- 
selves, disobeyed   and  became  devils.     We  were  pained  to 
hear  this  fable  of  the  Koran  from  the  mouth  of  a  Christian 
bishop,  and  reminded  him  that  the  salvation  of  men,  and 
not  the  fall  of  the  angels,  was  the  object  of  our  question. 
He  repeated  that  God  created  man  and  he  fell.     The  Fa- 
ther then  said,  he  has  sinned  and  must  be  punished.     But 
the  Son  said,  I  will  save  him ;  and  so  he  died  to  save  us  from 
punishment,  from  Satan,  and  from  sin.     We  inquired  if  he 
saved  us  from  original  sin  only,  or  likewise  from  sins  of  our 
own  commission. — Bish.     He  indeed  saved  us,  but  if  we 
continue  to  sin,  his  death,  though  we  may  be  baptized  and 
be  called  Christians,  will  do  us  no  good. — We.     But  all 
men  do  continue  to  sin.     How  are  they  to  obtain  pardon  ? 
— Bish.     By  fasting,  by  sincere  hearty  repentance,  and  by 
confession  to  God,  promising  at  the  same  time  to  sin  no 
more. — We.     If  we  are  to  obtain  pardon  for  our  sins  thus, 
then  Christ  saved  us  from  original  sin  only. — Bish.     We 
are  saved  by  Christ ;  but  how  1     We  must  obey  his  com- 
mands, must  fast,  commune,  repent  sincerely,  confess  to 
God,  and   the  like. — We  varied  our  question  in  different 
ways,  to  learn   if  he  entertained  the  common  idea,   that 
original  sin  is  cancelled  by  the  death  of  Christ,  and  actual 
sin  by  our  own*  good  works.     But,  though   he  expressly 
acknowledged  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  we  could  not 
find  that  he  made   this  distinction,  or  had   any  clear  idea 
that  all  or  even  any  sin  is  pardoned  solely  through  the 
death  of  Christ.     He  laid  much  stress  upon  sincerity  of 
repentance  and  consistent  Christian  conduct. 

We  changed  the  subject  by  saying,  you   have  told  us 


SIGN    OF    THE    CROSS.  225 

what  the  Father  and  the  Son  have  done  for  man,  will  you 
tell  us  now  the  work  of  the  Spirit  ? — Bish.  He  descended 
upon  the  apostles  on  the  day  of  Penticost ;  he  descended  too 
upon  Christ  at  his  baptism  ;  and  in  like  manner  he  de- 
scends now  upon  all  men  when  they  are  baptized. — We. 
Does  he  do  nothing  for  us  after  baptism? — Bish.  Most 
certainly,  he  is  always  with  us  and  does  every  thing  for  us. 
— We  asked  him,  if  no  instance  ever  occurred  among  them 
of  wicked  men's  becoming  correct  in  their  conduct  and 
good  Chritians  through  his  influences,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain whether  he  had  any  idea  of  regeneration  and  sanctifi- 
cation  by  the  Spirit,  distinct  from  baptism.  But  he  knew  too 
little  of  the  subject  even  to  understand  us  ! — Tn  regard  to 
the  nature  of  Christ,  the  bishop  expressed  his  full  belief 
that  he  is  perfect  God  and  perfect  man,  and  added,  too, 
(in  agreement  with  Nestorius,  but  contrary  to  the  doctrine 
usually  ascribed  to  him,)  that  his  two  natures  are  united  in 
one  person,  using  for  person  the  word  Jcnooma.  The  Spirit, 
he  thought,  proceeded  from  the  Father  only. 

At  last,  the  bishop  came  upon  that  Shibboleth  of  party 
in  the  oriental  churches,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  asked  us 
to  show  how  we  make  it.  We  replied  that  we  do  not 
make  it  at  all.  Not  that  we  have  any  law  against  it,  but 
if  a  man  is  at  heart  a  Christian,  we  do  not  consider  such  a 
sign  necessary,  especially  as  it  is  not  ordered  in  the  New 
Testament.  '  But,'  said  he, 4  are  we  not  ordered  to  take 
up  our  cross  and  follow  Christ  ? '  '  Yes,'  we  replied,  '  but 
if  this  sign  be  the  cross  of  which  our  Savior,  spoke,  we 
ought  to  make  it  on  the  back,  instead  of  the  breast ! '  An- 
other thought  that  our  neglect  of  this  ceremony  showed  an 
unwillingness  to  make  an  open  profession  of  Christianity, 
and  quoted  the  words,  "  Whosoever  shall  deny  me  before 
men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  We  declared  that  our  ideas  most  fully  accord 
with  this  important  passage,  and  that  in  no  case  should  the 

YOL.  II.  20* 


2*26  NUMBER    OF  NESTORIAN  SACRAMENTS. 

fear  of  man  lead  us  to  deny  our  religion.  We  must  profess 
it  in  the  face  of  danger  and  of  death.  In  fact  this  would  be 
what  our  Savior  means  by  taking  up  our  cross.  It  is  to  im- 
itate him  in  enduring  contumely  and  suffering  for  his 
sake.  '  But,'  said  the  bishop,  '  without  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
how  can  you  show  that  you  are  Christians  ?  '  '  By  obeying 
him,'  we  replied,  •  and  manifesting  in  all  our  conduct,  that 
we  love  him.'  Still  it  appeared  to  him  very  strange,  that 
we  should  call  ourselves  Christians,  and  not  make  the 
cross. — The  Nestorians  perform  this  ceremony  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Greeks. 

The  Chaldean  priest  at  Khosrova,  in  agreement  with 
Asseman,  whom  he  seemed  to  have  diligently  studied,  as- 
sured us  that  the  ancient  books  of  the  Nestorians  treat  of 
seven  sacraments,  and  those  the  same  that  are  acknowl- 
edged by  the  papal  church.  He  declared,  that  now,  how- 
ever, they  have  really  none  at  all.  For,  in  the  celebration  of 
mass  the  words  of  consecration  are  wanting.  Baptism  is 
performed  very  negligently,  and  in  no  uniform  manner. 
They  pretend  to  have  marriage,  but  if  the  wife  be  guilty 
of  adultery,  the  husband  is  allowed  to  take  another.  Ordi- 
nation too  is  made  to  consist  with  permission  for  the  cler- 
gy to  marry,  as  often  as  they  become  widowers,  to  the  num- 
ber of  seven  and  a  half  wives,  a  widow  being  considered 
the  half  wife.  Confession  has  long  since  been  abolished. 
And  of  confirmation  and  extreme  unction,  he  said,  they 
have  at  present  no  knowledge. — We  inquired  of  the  bishop 
at  Jamalava,  the  number  of  the  Nestorian  sacraments,  on 
the  first  evening  of  our  visit.  He  immediately  replied 
seven;  and  when  requested  to  enumerate  them,  repeated 
baptism,  the  eucharist,  ordination,  and  marriage,  without 
hesitation.  Then  he  stopped  to  think  and  inquire,  and 
finally  added,  burial,  the  sacred  leaven,  and  confession. 
Upon  being  interrogated,  however,  he  most  fully  denied  the 
existence  of  auricular  confession^  and  affirmed  that  they 


BAPTISM.  227 

confess  their  sins  only  to  God,  and  demand  absolution  from 
him  alone.  The  practice  of  anointing  the  sick  as  a  prep- 
aration for  death,  too,  or  extreme  unction,  he  confessed  had 
no  existence  among  them,  and  pretended  that  the  burial 
service  alone  is  a  sacrament.  Confirmation  he  never  allu- 
ded to,  except  to  imply  that  it  does  not  exist,  as  will  be 
soon  mentioned. — After  our  afternoon's  visit  to  the  bishop 
mentioned  above,  he  followed  us  to  our  room,  and,  with 
many  of  his  flock,  spent  the  evening  in  conversation.  We 
now  solicited  from  him  a  written  list  of  their  sacraments, 
and  obtained  the  following  :  viz.  baptism  (maamoodeeta) ; 
the  eucharist  (korbana)  ;  ordination  (siam  eedat  kahna  [ka- 
henoota])  ;  consecration  of  churches  (siam  eedat  oomara)  ; 
marriage  (boorakha)  ;  the  consecrated  leaven  (kodashat 
khmeera  [khmeera  kodeesha])  ;  and  consecrated  oil  (ko- 
dashat korna  [korna  or  mashha  kodeesha]). 

Baptism,  he  said,  is  performed  only  in  churches,  and 
the  whole  body  of  the  child  is  plunged  three  times  in  the 
water,  because  John  plunged  our  Savior  three  times  in 
Jordan.  When  we  mentioned,. however,  that  we  had  heard 
that  they  only  plunge  the  body  up  to  the  chin,  and  then 
pour  water  three  times  upon  the  head,  his  father  confessed 
that  they  do  so,  though  they  plunge  the  whole,  also,  when 
there  is  water  enough  !  When  asked  the  effect  of  baptism, 
both  replied  that  it  is  the  regeneration  spoken  of  by  our 
Savior,  when  he  said  to  Nicodemus,  "  Except  a  man  be 
born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  We  sug- 
gested that  he  explained  himself,  by  saying  in  a  subsequent 
verse,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit." 
1  Yes,'  they  replied,  '  as  the  Spirit  descended  upon  Christ  at 
Jordan,  so  he  now,  in  every  instance,  descends  upon  all 
persons  at  their  baptism.'  The  bishop  would  not  allow  that 
the  souls  of  infants  that  die  before  baptism  are  doomed  to 
hell,  nor  did  he  admit  that  they  are  received  to  heaven,  but 
said  that  a  place  is  prepared  specially  for  them. — To  as- 


228  SACRED    LEAVEN. 

certain  if  the  ceremony  of  confirmation  is  not,  as  among  the 
Armenians,  added  to  that  of  baptism,  we  asked  if  they  have 
not  the  meiron.  He  confessed  that  a  single  drop  of  oil  is  put 
upon  the  forehead  of  the  child,  but  contended  that  it  is  only 
consecrated  by  the  officiating  priest  for  the  occasion,  and 
not  by  the  patriarch,  and  that  it  is  not  a  distinct  sacrament, 
but  an  integral  part  of  baptism.  He  seemed  amused  at  our 
question,  whether  circumcision  is  practised  by  them,  as  if 
the  union  of  a  moslem  (as  he  called  it)  to  a  Christian  rite, 
was  not  only  unheard  of,  but  implied  an  absurdity.  We 
informed  him  that  the  Abyssinians  both  circumcise  and  bap- 
tize. He  expressed  a  fear  that  it  would  be  with  them,  as 
with  a  man  near  Mosul,  who,  to  obtain  a  certain  woman, 
turned  moslem.  On  the  night  of  their  marriage  he  died  ; 
and  his  wife  sat  to  bewailing  him,  and  said,  '  Alas  man  \ 
you  have  rejected  the  Messiah,  and  Mohammed  has  not  re- 
ceived you ;  where  can  your  soul  go ! ' 

The  sacrament  of  the  sacred  leaven  he  thus  explained.  At 
the  institution  of  the  eucharist,  our  Savior  gave  two  pieces 
of  the  bread  to  John,  the  beloved  disciple.  He  saved  one, 
and  dipped  it  in  the  blood  and  water  that  flowed  from  his 
Lord's  side,  when  pierced  with  the  spear  upon  the  cross. 
This  was  the  original  leaven.  It  is  now  renewed  once  a 
year,  on  Holy  Thursday.  Flour,  wine,  and  oil  are  mixed 
and  consecrated  ;  and  then  always  kept  in  a  vessel  in  the 
church,  to  be  mixed,  like  leaven,  with  the  bread  of  the  sac- 
rament of  the  supper. 

The  bread  of  the  eucharist,  he  said,  is  made  in  the  form 
of  small,  round,  thick  cakes,  with  a  cross,  and  nothing  else, 
stamped  upon  them.  It  is  kneaded  and  baked  in  the 
church  at  the  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament,  a 
small  oven  being  provided  for  the  purpose ;  and  he  seemed 
somewhat  stumbled  at  our  taking  common  baker's  bread 
for  so  holy  a  purpose.  In  fact,  it  was  evident  from  his 
whole  account,  that  uncommon  saCredness  is  ascribed  to 


THE    EUCHARIST.  229 

this  ordinance.  Although  in  the  usual  services  of  the 
church  the  priests  make  no  change  in  their  ordinary  dress, 
he  said  that  on  this  occasion,  they  are  clothed  in  a  white 
robe  with  a  red  fillet  around  the  neck.  That  we  could 
consecrate  the  elements  with  our  shoes  on,  quite  astonished 
him.  They,  not  only  remove  their  shoes,  but  no  one  that 
has  not  some  grade  in  the  church,  can  enter  the  part  of  the 
church  called  the  sanctuary,  at  all ;  nor  can  even  those 
that  have,  do  it  without  previously  fasting.  The  conse- 
crated elements  are  never  carried  from  the  church  as  a  via- 
ticum, but  persons  nigh  unto  death,  if  the  priest  deems  them 
pure  and  wprthy,  are  sometimes  brought  to  receive  them 
there.  We  did  not  learn  whether  this  is  always  done,  or  is 
deemed  essential.  He  was  amazed  that  we,  on  similar  oc- 
casions, sometimes  celebrate  the  ordinance  by  the  bedside 
of  the  sick ;  and  exclaimed,  '  How  is  it  possible  that  the 
body  of  our  Lord  should  be  consecrated  in  an  unconse- 
crated  place  ! '  In  short,  he  declared  most  positively,  that 
the  elements  after  consecration  are  no  longer  bread  and 
wine,  but  truly  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  and  affirmed 
that  they  worship  them  very  much. 

The  communicants  partake  first  of  the  bread,  and  then 
of  the  wine ;  and  this,  we  were  surprised  and  gratified  to 
find,  is  done  by  all,  every  time  the  ordinance  is  celebrated. 
4  We  do  not,'  said  the  bishop,  '  like  the  other  sects,  conse- 
crate the  elements,  and  give  them  to  none,  or  to  only  two 
or  three,  but  to  all  who  are  pure  and  worthy  to  receive 
them ;  to  those  who  are  not  pure,  and  to  children  who  have 
not  yet  learned  their  prayers,  only  bread  is  given.'  This 
seemed  at  once  to  show  that  the  Nestorians  have  not  the 
abominable  mass  of  the  Latin  and  other  old  churches,  and 
that  their  eucharist  is  only  the  celebration  of  the  supper  for 
purposes  of  communion ;  and  we  asked,  with  eagerness, 
how  often  it  occurs, — to  know  if  even  in  frequency  of  repeti- 
tion it  has  any  resemblance  to  the  pretended  daily  sacrifice 


230  OPEN    COMMUNION. 

of  the  mass.  He  said  they  attend  to  it  only  on  the  more 
important  days,  and  are  not  very  regular;  on  another  oc- 
casion he  numbered  twelve  days,  when  it  was  most  neces- 
sary; and  finally  stated,  that  some  years  it  might  be  cele- 
brated no  more  than  three  or  four  times,  and  others  as  ma- 
ny as  thirty.  Another  declaration  of  the  bishop  revealed  a 
second  equally  important  peculiarity  of  the  Nestorian  church. 
'  We  admit,5  said  he,  '  all  the  twelve  Christian  sects  to  our 
communion,  if  they  will  come,  but  none  of  them  admit  us 
to  theirs.'  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  from  us,  he  affirmed 
that  the  Nestorians,  in  return,  have  full  liberty  to  go  to  the 
communion  of  any  other  denomination.  We  explained 
that  we  also  hold  to  similar  principles  of  open  communion. 
But,  seeming  to  have  an  idea  that  the  twelve  apostles  divi- 
ded the  earth  between  them,  and  established  twelve  ortho- 
dox sects,  with  different  usages  and  rites,  all  of  which  dif- 
fer from  his  own  in  this  respect ;  he  was  perplexed  to  know 
where  to  class  us,  and  asked  who  was  our  apostle.  We  re- 
plied, that  as  America  was  not  known  to  exist  till  three  or 
four  hundred  years  ago,  none  of  them  could  have  gone 
thither.  Their  own  apostles,  he  said,  were  St.  Thomas 
from  among  the  twelve,  and  St.  Addai  (Thaddeus)  and  St. 
Mari  frpm  the  seventy-two.  To  test  the  truth  of  our  pro- 
fessions, he  asked  if  we  would  administer  the  communion 
to  him,  were  he  to  visit  America.  Our  reply  that  we  ad- 
mit all  good  men,  was  unsatisfactory ;  and  he  said,  '  Wheth- 
er I  am  good  or  not,  if  I  come  in  an  unknown  stranger, 
would  you  give  me  the  communion  ?  '  We  answered  in  the 
negative ;  and  asked  their  own  practice  in  this  respect.  He 
declared  that  the  priest  explains  to  the  people  what  charac- 
ter will  render  them  worthy  communicants,  and  that  if  they 
have  committed  such  and  such  sins  they  are  unworthy. 
Those  who  have  the  character  described,  he  invites  to  draw 
nigh ;  those  who  are  guilty  of  the  sins,  he  forbids,  saying  it 
is  a  fire  that  will  consume  them.      But  if  a  wicked  man. 


MARRIAGE.  231 

not  knowing  his  guilt,  or  from  presumption,  should  present 
himself,  the  elements  would  not  be  denied  him.  Should 
an  apostate  to  Mohammedanism  wish  to  return,  however, 
he  confessed  that  he  would  not  be  admitted  to  the  commun- 
ion, till  he  had  fasted  fifty  days ;  repented  and  bewailed  his 
sin  from  the  heart,  and  had  prayers  read  over  his  head  by 
the  priest  in  the  church. — He  assured  us  that  they  do  not 
imitate  the  washing  of  the  disciples  feet  on  Holy  Thursday. 

Marriage  is  celebrated,  he  informed  us,  sometimes  in 
the  church,  and  sometimes  in  private  houses.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  communion  is  not  connected  with  it,  but  only 
unconsecrated  bread  and  wine  are  given  to  the  married 
couple.  Respecting  divorce,  his  assertions  were  contra- 
dictory. He  first  affirmed  that  none  is  acknowledged 
which  allows  the  separated  parties  to  marry  again.  But  a 
few  questions  drew  from  him  the  admission,  that  in  case  of 
adultery,  if  the  fault  be  the  woman's,  the  man  may  take 
another  wife,  and  if  it  be  the  man's,  the  woman  may  take 
another  husband. 

The  consecrated  oil  is  used,  he  said,  but  for  two  purpo- 
ses ;  the  ordination  of  patriarchs,  and  the  coronation  of 
kings,  as  Samuel  anointed  Saul  and  David.  It  is  conse- 
crated for  the  occasion,  by  the  bishops  who  ordain  the 
patriarch. — Churches  are  consecrated  when  a  new  one  is 
built,  or  an  old  one  has  been  desecrated  by  a  moslem's 
entering  the  sanctuary.  It  is  done  by  a  bishop.  He  uses 
oil,  which  is  consecrated  by  him  for  the  occasion. 

March  13.  We  spent  the  Sabbath  at  Jamalava.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  the  Nestorian  lent.  The  Armenians, 
however,  were  not  to  begin  theirs  until  to-morrow,  and 
observed  to-day  as  carnival.  Fifteen  or  twenty  families  of 
that  nation  reside  here,  and  have  one  church ;  their  only 
clergyman  is  a  deacon,  and  they  are  obliged  to  bring  a 
priest  from  Ada  to  say  mass.  In  the  afternoon,  a  crowd 
of  them  assembled  in  the  yard  of  one  of  their  houses,  for 


232  ARMENIAN    CARNIVAL. 

amusement.  The  younger  and  more  playful  danced  to  the 
sound  of  music,  and  the  older  and  more  respectably  dress- 
ed sat  upon  the  ground  in  a  corner,  quaffing  large  draughts 
of  wine;  all  seemed  to  have  equally  forgotten  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  day.  A  curious  ornament,  but  one  as  ancient 
as  the  days  of  Rebecca,  *  was  observed  upon  the  younger 
females.  It  was  a  large  ring  inserted  in  the  cartilage  of 
the  nose.  We  had  already  noticed  a  girl  thus  decked  at 
Khosrova ;  and  here  was  another,  among  the  dancers,  with 
the  nose-ring  connected  to  that  of  the  ear  by  a  heavy  chain 
of  ornaments.  It  reminded  me  of  a  similar  appendage  to 
the  nose,  used  by  some  of  the  women  of  Cairo  in  Egypt. — 
We  met  no  other  Armenians  in  the  province  of  Oormiah. 
There  are  others,  but  they  are  so  few,  in  consequence  of 
the  large  emigration  to  the  Russian  territories,  that  we 
deemed  it  unimportant  to  search  for  them. 

*  See  Gen.  24:  47. 


LETTER    XXI. 

OORMIAH. 

Plain  of  Oormiah — Reception  at  Ada — Mar  Yoosuf— Nestorian  fasts— Eve- 
ning prayers — Number  of  the  Nestorian  sacraments — Baptism — Forgive- 
ness of  sins — Eucharist— Nestorian  clergy — Education — Regard  for  papa- 
cy— Education  of  the  clergy — Political  discontent — Town  of  Oormiah — 
Disregard  to  truth — Reception  at  Ardishai — Dress  of  the  Nestorian  cler- 
gy— Mar  Gabriel  and  his  diocese — Evening  prayers — Eucharist — Baptism 
— The  bishop's  house  and  family — Fasting — Argument  with  a  Chaldean — 
Reasons  for  not  proceeding  farther — Koosy — Evening  prayers — Nestorian 
manuscripts — Interview  with  Mar  Ooraham — The  Takhsa — The  Siinhe- 
diis — Celebration  of  the  eucharist — Suggestions  respecting  a  [mission  in 
Persia. 

Dear  Sir, 

Our  delay  of  two  days  at  Jamalava  more  than  realized 
the  pleasure  we  had  anticipated  from  visiting  the  Nestori- 
ans.  The  friendliness,  simplicity,  and  unreserved  frank- 
ness of  the  bishop  and  his  flpck,  and  the  amount  of  infor- 
mation he  patiently  allowed  us  to  draw  from  him  by  an  al- 
most uninterrupted  series  of  questions,  gave  a  deep  interest 
to  our  intercourse.  We  bade  them  farewell  at  an  early 
hour  on  the  14th  of  March,  to  visit  another  Nestorian  bish- 
op at  Ada,  about  five  fursakhs  distant.  After  leaving  the 
few  villages  in  the  vicinity  of  Jamalava,  the  narrow  plajn 
between  the  mountains  and  the  lake  ceased  to  be  culti- 
vated. At  the  distance  of  four  or  five  miles,  the  plain 
of  Oormiah  opened,  projecting  for  some  distance  into 
the  lake  on  the  left,  and  extending  up  between  the  moun- 
tains on  the  right.  It  seemed  of  great  extent,  and  almost 
perfectly    level.      A    road  led    directly  to  the  town   of 

VOL.  II.  21 


234  PLAIN    OP    OORMIAH, 

Oormiah,  on  its  southwest  side  near  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains, at  a  distance  of  at  least  ten  miles  from  the  lake.  We 
turned  to  the  left,  and  were  soon  surrounded  by  marks  of 
a  dense  population  and  of  extreme  fertility.  Villages 
were  separated  but  a  little  from  each  other,  and  the  fruit 
trees  and  poplars  around  them  resembled  a  continuous  for- 
est. Almost  every  spot  was  cultivated  with  grain  or  cot- 
ton, and  the  canals  which  irrigated  them,  (some  of  them 
so  large  as  to  be  used  for  mill-streams,)  were  so  frequent 
and  full  as  seriously  to  impede  our  progress.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  apparent  fertility  of  the  dark  loam  which 
formed  the  soil.  In  a  word,  the  native  province  of  Zoro- 
aster, (for  tradition  pretends  that  Zoroaster  was  born  in 
Oormiah,)  seemed  altogether  the  finest,  the  most  densely 
populated  and  highly  cultivated  tract  we  had  seen  in  Asia. 
— As  we  passed  along,  an  old  Kurdish  shepherd  by  the 
side  of  the  path  cried  out,  '  Aha !  you  are  just  the  men  I 
have  been  wanting  to  see  for  a  long  time.  Our  governor 
here  oppresses,  beats  and  kills  us.  This  is  Kurdistan ; 
the  Kurds  are  many,  and  the  Kuzul-bdshes  (Persians)  are 
few.  When  are  you  coming  to  take  the  country  and 
allow  us  a  chance  to  beat  and  kill  them?'  He  supposed 
we  were  Russians ;  and  the  .inhabitants  of  a  Kurdish  vil- 
lage nor  far  beyond,  seemed  equally  glad  to  see  us,  and 
asked  when  we  came  from  Erivan. 

At  Ada,  we  announced  ourselves  as  clergymen,  and 
inquired  for  the  bishop.  He  was  an  elderly  man,  by  the 
name  of  Yoosuf.  We  were  received  cordially,  and  pro- 
vided with  comfortable  accommodations.  Hardly  had  we 
dismounted,  before  nearly  the  whole  village  crowded  around 
us.  They  followed  us  to  our  room,  and  filled  it  almost  to 
suffocation.  Pleased  as  we  were  to  see  such  an  interest 
excited  by  our  arrival,  we  feared  it  would  seem  to  their 
rulers  like  a  tumultuous  rising,  and  would  gladly  have  per- 
suaded many  of  them  to  retire.     But  our  remonstrances 


FASTING.  235 

were  in  vain,  and  the  bishop,  when  urged  to  exert  his  au- 
thority, assured  us  that  the  whole  was  but  the  overflowing 
of  pure  love  to  us,  and  we  must  bear  with  them.  They 
listened  to  our  conversation  until  late  at  night,  and  were 
finally  persuaded  to  retire,  only  by  our  declaring  that  we 
were  going  to  bed. 

As  we  took  our  seat  with  the  bishop,  a  pipe  was  of- 
fered him,  but  he  declined  it,  saying  that  it  being  lent  he 
fasted  all  day,  without  eating,  drinking,  or  smoking,  until 
after  evening  prayers.  He  confessed,  however,  that  in  this 
he  followed  merely  his  own  choice,  or  at  the  most  a  rule 
binding  upon  bishops  alone,  as  the  common  people  fast  thus 
only  until  after  the  prayers  at  midday.  Respecting  the 
prohibition  of  every  animal  production  during  their  fasts, 
and  their  commencement  and  termination  at  sunset  in- 
stead of  midnight,  he  confirmed  what  had  been  said  at 
Jamalava.  Our  own  disregard  of  all  fasting  rules  excited 
his  surprise,  as  it  did  that  of  all  the  Nestorians  whom  we 
met.  We  plainly  declared,  that  we  acknowledge  no  dis- 
tinction between  different  kinds  of  food,  but  hold  fasting  to 
be  important  because  the  Scriptures  approve  of  it :  still,  as 
they  have  fixed  no  particular  days,  we  leave  individual 
Christians  to  their  own  choice.  The  explanation  seemed 
not  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  remove  the  impression,  that 
we  wantonly  trample  upon  a  most  sacred  custom.  His  rea- 
son for  the  church's  fasting  fifty  instead  of  forty  days  was 
curious.  He  allowed  that  our  Savior  first  fasted  forty  days 
in  the  wilderness,  and  that  the  apostles  in  imitation  of  him 
observed  the  same  length  of  time  :  but  said  they  fasted  all 
the  time,  without  eating  night  or  day ;  this  we  are  unable 
to  do,  and  they  have  consequently  granted  us  liberty  in  tha 
Apostolical  Canons  to  eat  at  night,  but  in  consideration  of 
the  indulgence  have  increased  the  number  of  days  to  fifty. 

We  attended  evening  prayers  with  the  bishop.  No  other 
ceremonies  were  observed  than  at  Jamalava,  except  that 


236  NESTORIAN  SACRAMENTS. 

the  deacon,  when  reading  the  Psalter,  wore,  in  addition  to 
his  ordinary  clothes,  a  white  sash  around  his  loins,  and  a 
similar  band  passing  over  his  left  shoulder  and  tucked  under 
the  sash  before  and  behind.  Burning  incense  too  was  car- 
ried around  to  each  individual  of  the  congregation,  for  him 
to  hold  his  hands  and  face  in  its  smoke.  The  poverty  of 
the  church  was  similar,  and  the  apparent  want  of  devotion 
even  greater.  There  were  no  pictures  nor  images,  and  the 
bishop  testified  that  they  are  not  allowed.  But  he  confess- 
ed that  relics  of  saints  are  highly  venerated  by  his  country- 
men, and  in  fact,  that  they  can  build  no  church  without 
putting  a  relic  under  the  altar. 

Mar  Yoosuf  of  Ada  was  as  ready  as  Mar  Yohanna  of 
Jamalava  to  declare  the  number  of  the  Nestorian  sacra- 
ments to  be  seven.  He  enumerated  baptism,  the  eucharist, 
ordination,  marriage,  confession,  consecration  of  churches, 
and  burial.  But  when  interrogated,  he  explained  that  au- 
ricular confession  is  found  only  in  their  ancient  books,  and 
is  now  never  practised.  By  the  sacrament  of  burial,  too, 
he  intended  merely  the  services  connected  with  putting  the 
body  in  the  ground.  And  he  admitted  that  the  sacred 
leaven,  and  the  consecrated  oil,  are  likewise  sacraments  ; 
remarking,  as  we  reminded  him  of  them,  that  we  must  have 
read  their  books. 

Baptism,  he  said,  cannot  be  administered  by  a  deacon, 
nor  indeed  by  a  priest  without  a  deacon,  as  both  have  a 
part  to  perform.  When  asked  the  effect  of  baptism,  he  re- 
plied, in  connection  with  a  priest,  who  seemed  a  clever  man 
and  sat  by  his  side  to  help  him  in  his  answers,  '  Christ 
said  to  Nicodemus,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Nicodemus,  being  advanced 
in  years,  asked,  "  How  can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is 
old?"  Our  Savior  explained  by  saying,  "except  a  man  be 
born  of  water"  &c.  It  was  baptism  of  which  he  spoke.' 
'But  was  that  all?5  said  we;'*  he  added  something  more.' 


FORGIVENESS    OF    SINS.  237 

*  True,'  rejoined  the  bishop,  '  as  the  Spirit  descended  upon 
Christ  at  his  baptism,  so  he  now  descends  upon  all  who 
are  baptized.'  He  seemed,  in  this  and  in  some  other  of 
his  explanations,  to  quote  from  a  book,  and  the  similarity 
o.f  his  remarks  to*  those  of  the  bishop  at  Jamalava,  made  us 
suspect  that  some  book  is  in  common  use  among  them, 
which  explains  their  dogmas.  When  questioned  farther, 
he  declared  that  baptism  takes  away  original  sin ;  and  we 
then  asked  him,  how  we  are  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  actual 
sin.  He  at  first  said  that  we  must  go  and  confess  our  sins 
to  the  priest,  and  then  fast  and  weep;  but  immediately 
admitted  that  no  such  confession  is  now  practised.  Still 
he  contended  that  when  a  person,  who  has  apostatized  to 
Mohammedanism,  or  committed  any  other  great  crime, 
wishes  to  return,  he  first  goes  and  tells  the  priest,  then  fasts 
a  certain  number  of  days  in  the  church,  (the  apostate  forty 
days,)  praying  and  weeping,  making  a  certain  number  of 
genuflections  every  day,  and  putting  ashes  under  him  and 
on  his  head ;  and  at  the  end,  the  priest,  on  the  morning  of 
the  communion,  reads  over  him  at  the  altar  an  absolution, 
the  tenor  of  which  is,  that  if  he  has  sincerely  repented  he 
is  forgiven  in  heaven  as  well  as  on  earth,  but  if  he  has  not 
repented  he  is  forgiven  neither  in  heaven  nor  on  earth.  He 
is  then  admitted  to  the  communion.  If  he  fall  away  into 
the  same  crime  again,  however,  a  second  absolution  is  nev- 
er given,  nor  is  he  ever  after  allowed  to  partake  of  the 
eucharist. 

He  represented  that  the  eucharist  is  celebrated  oftener 
than  Mar  Yohanna  had  given  us  to  understand ;  and  even 
said  it  ought  to  be  done  every  day.  In  practice,  however, 
it  occurs,  he  allowed,  only  on  Sundays,  the  festivals,  and 
frequently  in  lent;  perhaps  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  times  a 
year.  He  added  his  testimony,  that  on  every  occasion  all 
who  are  pure  and  worthy  are  accustomed  to  commune. 
The  priest  reads  to  the  audience  assembled  a  warning 

VOL.  II.  21  * 


238  NESTORIAN    CLERGY. 

against  certain  sins,  they  say,  'we  repent,'  and  he  then 
administers  to  them  the  elements.  Should  a  person  pre- 
sent himself,  who  is  known  not  to  be  prepared,  one  for 
instance  who  has  quarrelled  with  his  neighbor  and  not  be- 
come reconciled,  he  is  refused.  When  asked  if  members 
of  other  denominations  are  allowed  to  come  to  their  com- 
munion, he  replied,  \  most  certainly,  all  the  twelve  Chris- 
tian sects  are  our  brethren,  why  should  they  not  come  V 
And  he  allowed,  that  though  he  should  object  to  a  Nestori- 
an's  going  to  another  sect  when  there  was  a  church  of  his 
own  open  in  the  same  place,  he  should  be  perfectly  willing 
when  there  was  none,  that  he  should  commune  with  the 
English,  the  Armenians,  or  any  other  of  the  twelve.  We 
asked,  if  the  Nestorians  believe  that  the  bread  and  wine  of 
the  sacrament  become  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
1  Most  certainly,'  he  replied,  '  that  is  our  hope ;  by  what 
else  do  we  expect  to  be  saved  from  our  sins  ? '  And  we  un- 
derstood him  to  acknowledge  it  to  be  a  propitiatory  sacri- 
fice. He  also  said  they  worship  it ;  but  the  words  he  used 
might  mean  no  more  than  reverence. 

His  account  of  the  income  of  the  clergy  agreed  nearly 
with  that  of  Mar  Yohanna.  The  bishop  receives  from  ev- 
ery individual  in  his  diocese  a  tax  of  two  shahies  (about  3 
cts.)  per  annum  ;  a  fee  of  one  reai  (about  35  cts.)  for  eve- 
ry marriage  ;  and  for  ordination,  from  five  to  twenty  reals, 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  candidate.  A  priest 
receives  four  batmans  (about  40  lbs.)  annually  from  every 
granary  ;  for  marriages  a  fee  of  one  real ;  and  four  shahies 
for  baptisms  ;  with  sometimes  a  few  voluntary  contributions 
for  other  ceremonies.  But  this  income  is  not  sufficient  to 
support  the  priests,  and  they  are  obliged  to  labor  like  other 
men. — The  two  bishops  agreed,  also,  in  the  number  and 
names  of  the  ecclesiastical  orders ;  except  that  Mar  Yoosuf 
allowed  that  the  two  grades  of  katoleeka  and  patriarka  are 
united  in  the  person  of  Mar  Shimon.     He  added  that  none 


NUMBER    OF    ORTHODOX    SECTS.  239 

below  the  bishop  can  perform  ordination,  and  that  bishops 
themselves  can  be  ordained  only  by  the  patriarch.  The 
patriarch  is  ordained  by  two  matrans.  With  the  exception 
of  the  patriarch,  at  whose  consecration  alone  oil  is  used, 
the  ordination  ceremony  of  the  other  grades  consists  merely 
in  prayers  said  over  the  candidate,  the  imposition  of  hands, 
and  cutting  so  much  of  the  hair  on  the  crown  as  when 
grasped  in  the  hand  rises  above  it.  The  last  particular 
contradicted  what  had  been  told  us  by  the  Chaldean  deacon 
at  Jamalava,  that  the  Nestorians  make  the  tonsure  in  the 
form  of  a  cross.  The  bishop  wished  to  know  how  our 
own  clergy  are  ordained,  and  seemed  satisfied  with  our 
statement,  that  the  ceremony  consists  merely  in  the  impo- 
sition of  hands  and  prayer,  without  oil  or  the  tonsure. 
But  on  learning  that  we  have  no  higher  order  than  priests  „ 
he  wondered  how  they  could  get  ordination.  '  As  in  your 
own  church,'  said  we,  'two  matrans  ordain  a  patriarch 
who  is  greater  than  they,  so  in  ours,  two  or  more  priests 
ordain  a  priest,  their  equal.5  '  It  is  right,'  he  replied,  '  but 
who  preached  the  gospel  to  you  ? '  He  went  on  to  say, 
that  our  Savior  sent  his  twelve  apostles  into  different  parts 
of  the  earth,  and  from  them  sprang  twelve  sects.  He  could 
not  enumerate  them,  but  declared  that  their  names  are 
found  in  the  Nestorian  books.  His  idea  was,  that  although 
the  gospel  is  one,  each  apostle  gave  to  his  own  sect  partic- 
ular institutions,  which  are  binding  upon  it,  and  not  upon 
the  others.  Upon  no  other  sect,  he  thought,  had  so  oner- 
ous rites  been  imposed,  as  upon  the  Nestorians.  All  the 
twelve  are  orthodox ,  but  any  new  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
sect  he  would  immediately  pronounce  to  be  heretical. 

The  bishop  informed  us,  that  there  are  only  30  houses  of 
Nestorians  in  Ada,  but  I  am  inclined  to  prefer  Mar  Yohan- 
na's  statement,  that  there  are  80,  especially  as  it  is  in  his 
diocese.  They  have  two  churches,  with  a  priest  and  one 
or  two  deacons.     Its  Armenian  inhabitants  were  formerly 


£40  REGARD  FOR  THE  POPE. 

numerous,  but  nearly  all  have  gone  to  the  Russian  provinces. 
It  has  no  school.  A  year  or  two  ago,  the  bishop  said,  he 
procured  an  instructor  who  taught  three  or  four,  and  they 
are  the  only  readers  in  the  village.  He  declared  that  the 
Nestorians  are  extremely  fond  of  learning,  but  moslem 
oppression  allows  them  no  time  for  it,  and  puts  it  out  of  the 
power  of  parents  to  educate  their  children.  The  priest  had 
a  son,  and  he  had  a  nephew,  he  said,  whom  they  wished  much 
to  educate,  but  it  was  impossible.  We  inquired  for  schools 
in  his  diocese,  but  he  declared  that  he  had  no  diocese,  not 
even  this  village  belonged  to  him.  Two  or  three  others, 
he  said,  were  claiming  all  they  could ;  he  thought  such  a 
course  unchristian,  and  claimed  nothing. 

The  subject  of  education  led  him  to  remark,  that  bishop 
Shevris  spent  much  for  the  instruction  of  the  Nestorians, 
and  that  of  the  few  who  have  any  knowledge  of  letters,  a 
large  portion  are  indebted  to  him  for  it.  We  inquired 
whether  such  efforts  were  acceptable  to  them.  '  Yes,'  said 
he,  '  but  he  told  us  to  turn  to  the  church  of  Rome,  and  we 
would  not  turn.  I  wTas  at  Kochannes  once,  when  he  offer- 
ed Mar  Shimon  four  thousand  tomans,  if  he  would  become 
a  papist ! ' — We  had  already  inquired  of  Mar  Yohanna  at 
Jamalava,  in  what  estimation  the  pope  is  held  by  the  Nesto- 
rians, and  received  for  answer,  that  they  reverence  the  see 
of  Rome,  but  do  not  acknowledge  him  who  occupies  it.  He 
distinctly  declared,  too,  that  Peter  not  merely  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  apostles  in  wisdom  and  energy,  but  was  cloth- 
ed with  authority  over  all  the  rest,  by  the  declaration  of  our 
Savior  to  him — "  Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven,"  &c.  We  reminded  him  that  this  is 
said  likewise  expressly  to  all  the  apostles ;  but  he  replied, 
that  to  Peter  alone  was  it  said,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon 
this  rock  will  I  build  my  church."  The  argument  was 
closed  by  our  declaring,  that  this  does  not  at  all  imply  that 
the  church  is  not  equally  built  upon  the  other  apostles ;  in 


REGARD  FOR  THE  POPE.  241 

Rev.  21 :  14,  the  New  Jerusalem  is  said  to  have  twelve 
foundations,  and  in  them  the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles 
of  the  Lamb ;  and  in  Eph.  2  :  20,  believers  are  said  to  be 
built  upon  ♦  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets , 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone. — We 
now  expressed  our  hope  to  Mar  Yoosuf,  that  his  nation  will 
never  yield  to  propositions  like  those  of  bishop  Shevris,  and 
inquired  what  they  thought  of  the  pope.  'We  receive 
him/  was  the  reply.  *  What,'  said  we,  '  are  you  a  JcatoleeJc  V 
(the  name  by  which  the  members  of  the  papal  church  are 
generally  known  among  them.)  'Is  the  pope  a  katoleekT 
he  asked.  We  assured  him  that  he  is  more  of  a  katoleek 
than  any  person  he  ever  saw.  *  Then,'  said  he,  with  deep 
feeling,  '  I  dont  receive  him,  for  he  has  departed  from  the 
gospel  path,  has  he  not  V  He  still  declared  that  he  con- 
sidered Peter  the  head  of  the  apostles,  and  contended  with 
some  warmth,  that  Christ  ordered  them  all  to  obey  him. — 
These  remarks  of  the  bishop  singularly  confirmed  what  the 
Chaldean  priest  had  told  us  at  Khosrova,  that  while  the 
Nestorians  are  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  Roman 
Catholics,  they  have  great  reverence  for  the  pope,  and  be- 
lieve that  his  religion  is  like  theirs,  supposing  his  tenets  to 
have  been  misrepresented  to  them  by  his  professed  followers. 
The  bishop's  quotations  from  Scripture,  especially  in 
proof  of  his  last  position,  were  very  incorrect,  and  betrayed 
but  a  slight  knowledge  of  the  word  of  God.  With  the  mod- 
ern Syriac  alphabet,  he  seemed  to  be  not  at  all  acquaint- 
ed ;  but  he  could  still  read  our  copy  of  the  Syriac  New  Tes- 
tament, with  a  little  difficulty  in  regard  to  now  and  then  a 
word.  The  language  of  their  church  books,  he  declared, 
is  not  understood  by  the  common  people  ;  but  the  priests 
are  accustomed  to  explain  particular  parts  of  the  services, 
especially  the  lessons  from  the  Gospel.  This  he  called 
preaching.  He  affirmed  that  in  the  mountains,  there  are 
some  schools  designed  specially  for  the  education  of  the 


242  POLITICAL    DISCONTENT. 

clergy ;  but  we  obtained  from  him  no  information  respect- 
ing them.  He  confirmed  the  statement  already  given,  that 
this  province  formerly  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  Mar 
Elias  of  El  Koosh,  but  left  him  when  he  became  a  papist, 
(as  he  now  is,)  and  submitted  to  Mar  Shimon.  The  con- 
fession of  Mar  Yohanna,  that  Christ  is  perfect  God  and 
perfect  man  existing  in  one  person,  was  also  acceded  to  by 
him  ;  with  the  additional  explanation,  that  the  two  persons, 
human  and  divine,  are  so  united  as  to  have  become  one. 
He  declared  too,  with  that  bishop,  that  his  nation  derive 
their  name  JYusrany,  from  Nazareth,  where  Christ  was 
brought  up  \  but  added  the  singular  assertion,  that  they  are 
descended  from  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel. 

Before  leaving  Jamalava,  we  had  been  asked  by  Mar  Yo- 
hanna, when  we  thought  the  authority  would  pass  from  the 
hands  of  moslem  into  those  of  Christian  kings.  Under- 
standing him  to  refer  to  the  millenium,  we  told  him  that 
God  has  indeed  promised  a  time  when  all  men  shall  not  only 
be  under  Christian  governments,  but  shall  themselves  be 
Christians,  and  we  hoped  it  would  not  be  long  delayed, 
but  how  long,  we  felt  unable  to  determine  from  the  word 
of  God.  We  ascertained  from  him,  that  he  had  no  ex- 
pectation of  Christ's  appearing  on  earth  again  till  he  comes 
to  judge  the  world,  and  in  fact  had  no  distinct  ideas  of  the 
millenium  at  all.  But  he  said  he  was  not  speaking  of  the 
latter  days,  when  Elias  would  come,  and  the  gospel  be 
preached  to  all  people,  but  to  a  time  not  far  distant,  when 
the  government  of  the  nations  would  pass  into  the  hands  of 
Christian  kings.  His  meaning  was  not  fully  understood 
till  we  reached  Ada.  The  salutation  of  the  old  Kurd,  on 
the  road,  was  an  indication  of  political  discontent.  On  our 
arrival  here,  the  first  Nestorian  who  entered  our  room,  said 
distinctly  that  he  wished  to  go  to  Tiflis  with  us.  After  the 
company  had  dispersed  at  night,  another  stopped  to  say, 
that  all  the  young  men  in  the  place  had  taken  an  oath  in 


TOWN    Of   OORMIAH.  243 

the  church,  and  subscribed  their  names  to  a  promise,  {hat 
they  would  leave  for  Georgia  within  three  days.  They 
could  bear  their  oppressions  no  longer.  Our  situation,  in. 
this  high  excitement,  you  can  readily  conceive  was  delicate. 
The  crowd  that  collected  around  us,  might  be  taken  by  the 
rulers  for  a  rising  of  the  people  en  masse  to  receive  us  as 
their  deliverers.  Two  moslem  servants  of  the  khan  who 
owns  the  village,  actually  came  to  inquire  who  we  were,  but 
were  satisfied  by  a  sight  of  our  rakams.  The  Nestorians  we 
took  every  means  to  make  understand  our  real  character,  that 
no  false  hopes  might  be  raised.  And  in  order  not  to  impli- 
cate ourselves,  not  only  were  all  questions  that  could  possi- 
bly have  a  political  bearing  carefully  avoided  by  us,  but 
Antonio  was  charged  to  be  equally  cautious.  To  harden 
our  hearts  thus,  however,  was  difficult  in  the  extreme,  and 
'  while  we  held  our  peace  our  sorrow  was  stirred.5  For  a 
poor  man  was  drawn  up  and  bastinadoed  near  our  door 
just  after  we  arrived.  The  only  occasion  of  his  punishment 
was,  if  we  may  believe  his  townsmen,  that  the  khan  who 
owns  the  village,  had  demanded  of  him  ten  tomans  or  his 
daughter.  The  poor  man  had  but  two  goats  in  the  world, 
and  could  not  give  the  money.  He  loved  his  daughter, 
and  would  not  give  her.  But  they  expected  the  cruelty 
would  be  repeated,  until  his  resolution  to  withhold  her 
would  be  overcome. 

March  15.  Ada  is  two  and  a  half  or  three  fursakhs 
nearly  eastward  from  the  town  of  Oormiah,  (often  pro- 
nouced  Oroomiah.)  Our  intention  to  visit  that  place  was 
frustrated  by  the  existence  of  the  plague.  It  was  indeed 
in  many  of  the  villages,  also,  and  one  very  near  Ada  was 
infected.  But  the  danger  from  .travelling  among  them  was 
small,  as  we  were  able,  by  careful  inquiry,  to  shun  all 
that  had  the  disease.  In  the  town,  according  to  some  ac- 
counts, it  was  just  at  that  time  attended  with  much  mortal- 
ity ;  and  to  mingle  with  a  dense  city  population  under  such 


244  DISREGARD   TO  TRUTH. 

circumstances,  would  have  been  attended  with  great  ex- 
posure. We  determined  therefore  to  avoid  it,  especially 
as  there  was  very  little  inducement  to  draw  us  thither. 
Its  Nestorian  inhabitants,  we  were  informed  at  our  next 
station,  hardly  amount  to  more  than  a  hundred  houses. 
Of  papists,  of  any  kind,  there  are  none. 

Having  learned  that  another  Nestorian  bishop  resides  at 
Ardishai,  five  fursakhs  from  Ada  and  two  fursakhs  below 
Oormiah  on  the  road  to  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  we 
started  for  that  place  at  an  early  hour  this  morning.  The 
country  was  fertile,  and  villages  were  almost  as  frequent  as 
yesterday.  Our  guide  from  Ada  afforded  an  instance  of  the 
little  confidence  that  can  be  reposed  in  statistical  informa- 
tion obtained  from  this  people ;  and  reminds  me  to  say,  that 
the  statements  of  that  kind,  which  the  Nestorians  gave  us, 
were  so  very  uncertain  and  contradictory,  that  we  despaired 
of  making  any  approximation  to  the  truth.  He  declared, 
that  besides  50  Nestorian  families  in  Ada,  there  were  70 
of  papists,  and  that  he  was  himself  one  of  the  latter.  But 
Nestorians  and  Chaldeans  afterward  assured  us,  that  he 
was  not  a  papist  himself,  and  that  there  were  none  at  Ada ; 
but  that  he  had  probably  told  us  the  story,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  we  were  of  that  sect,  and  should  be  gratified  by 
it.  We  imagined  that  some  of  the  statements  of  the  bish- 
ops, and  indeed  many  of  those  of  Mar  Yoosuf,  were  simi- 
larly colored  for  the  same  reason.  We  took  pains  to  pro- 
claim that  We  had  no  connection  with  the  pope :  still,  they 
could  not  be  persuaded  at  once  that  our  doctrines  were  not 
like  those  of  the  papists,  and  that  our  esteem  for  them 
would  not  be  increased  in  proportion  as  we  found  theirs 
of  a  similar  character. 

We  were  hardly  in  signt  of  Ardishai,  before  the  people 
were  seen  upon  their  terraces,  and  running  from  all  direc- 
tions to  meet  us ;  and  by  the  time  we  reached  the  bishop's 
door,  a  crowd  of  hundreds  of  men,  women  and  children 


DRESS  OF  THE  NESTORIAN  CLERGY.        245 

beset  us,  all  apparently  overjoyed  at  our  arrival.  We  were 
actually  alarmed  for  the  consequences  of  such  excitement, 
and  begged  the  bishop  to  give  us  a  room  immediately  that 
we  might  escape  the  multitude.  He  invited  us  into  his 
own  house.  But  they  crowded  upon  us  there,  and  though 
often  dispersed  by  his  command,  given  at  our  request,  they 
as  often  returned,  until  we  finally  stationed  a  servant  at  the 
door  to  prevent  more  than  a  small  number  from  entering.  No 
other  reason  was  assigned  for  their  assembling,  than  affec- 
tion for  us,  and  a  wish  to  see  us.  Curiosity  to  see  Europe- 
ans, of  whom  few  had  ever  been  among  them,  was  probably 
one  cause  of  the  excitement;  nor  do  I  doubt  that  real 
friendliness  of  heart  had  some  influence ;  but  a  hope  that 
we  would  free  them  from  their  oppressions  was  uppermost 
in  their  minds.  We  took  such  a  course  at  Ardishai,  as  to 
hear  few  of  their  complaints. 

None  of  the  Nestorian  clergy  were  distinguished  from 
the  laity  by  their  dress,  except  the  bishops.  They  wore  a 
Kurdish  costume,  which  consisted  of  a  large  red  cap,  hang- 
ing down  behind  and  wound  around  with  a  turban,  instead 
of  the  conical  sheepskin  cap  of  the  Persians,  and  of  flowing 
robes  somewhat  in  the  Osmanly  fashion.  The  dress  of  the 
bishop  of  Ardishai,  however,  was  distinguished  in  nothing 
from  the  Persian  mode,  except  that  upon  his  head  he  had 
only  a  tight  red  skull-cap.  His  name  was  Gabriel.  He 
was  a  beardless  youth,  aged,  according  to  his  own  and  his 
mother's  declaration,  only  twenty;  and  yet  he  had  been 
ordained  to  the  episcopate  seven  years !  Though  young, 
his  manner  was  sober  enough,  perhaps,  but  he  seemed  ex- 
tremely heedless.  An  oath  frequently  slipped  from  his 
mouth  in  conversation.  So  difficult  did  we  find  it  to  draw 
his  attention  more  than  a  minute  to  any  topics  we  brought 
forward,  and  his  answers  were  given  with  so  little  thought, 
and  in  some  cases  with  so  little  regard  to  truth,  that  we 
despaired,  at   first,  of  obtaining  from  him  any   accurate 

vol.  ii.  22 


246  EVENING   PRAYERS, 

information.     He  is  the  seventh  of  his  family,  who  have 
occupied  this  see  in  succession. — The  village  of  Ardishai 
he  said,  consists  of  100  families  of  Nestorians,  who  have 
four  or  five  churches,  and  as  many  deacons,  but  no  priests, 
all  of  them  having  died  of  the  epidemic  the  last  year.     He 
affirmed  positively  that  it  contains  no  papists ;  but  when  a 
Chaldean  priest  afterward  came  in,  he  confessed  that  there 
are  two  priests  and  four  or  five  families  of  that  sect.     The 
village   of  Barbary,  their  principal  residence,  and   where 
they  have  another  priest,  is  not  far  to  the  south ;    and  a 
few  live  also  in  another  village  in  the  province.     The  bish- 
op's diocese,  if  we  may  believe  his  own  statements,  embra- 
ces 20  or  30  villages.     Ten  schools  are  taught  in  them  by 
priests,  each  of  which  has  from  five  to  ten  boys,  and  one 
as  many  as  twenty.     He  alluded  to  the  existence  of  schools 
in  the  mountains  for  the  education  of  the  clergy,  but  added 
no  information  respecting  them.     Convents,  he  assured  us, 
exist  in  thoseparts  for  females  as  well  as  males ;  and  both 
monks  and  nuns  have  completely  retired  from  the   world, 
are  under  a  vow  of  celibacy,  and  can  never  marry.     He 
estimated  the  Nestorians  of  the  province  of  Oormiah  at 
four  or  five  thousand  families. 

We  attended  evening  prayers  with  the  bishop,  but  ob- 
served little  to  add  to  what  I  have  already  said  of  their 
forms  of  worship.  Each  one  on  entering,  not  only  went 
to  kiss  the  hand  of  the  bishop,  as  in  the  other  places,  but 
came  to  us  also,  and  passed  around  the  congregation,  for 
the  same  purpose,  seeming  to  intend  it  for  a  mere  fraternal 
salutation.  The  church  being  sufficiently  lighted  by  the 
sun,  the  use  of  candles,  which  was  observed  in  all  the 
other  churches  we  visited,  was  dispensed  with.  Nor  was 
any  incense  used  ;  but  the  reason  assigned  for  neglecting 
it,  was  that  it  had  been  stolen  from  the  church  the  night 
before.  The  deacon  merely  loosened  the  end  of  his  sash 
and  passed  it  over  his  left  shoulder  to  read  the  Psalter. 


THE    EUCHARIST.  247 

Of  devotion  there  was  no  appearance.  The  bishop  and 
deacons  talked  to  each  other  and  to  the  members  of  the 
congregation  in  the  midst  of  their  prayers,  and  seemed  to 
attach  no  meaning  at  all  to  the  words  they  read.  The 
church  differed  from  those  at  Jamalava  and  Ada,  only  in 
being  a  little  larger ;  and  like  all  we  saw,  the  altar  v/as  in 
the  eastern  extremity.  Such  a  position  of  the  altar,  the 
bishop  informed  us,  is  always  observed  by  the  Nestorians  ; 
and  they  never  pray  without  turning  the  face  to  the  east. 

He  confirmed  what  Mar  Yohanna  had  said  respecting 
the  bread  of  the  eucharist,  and  the  cross  stamped  upon  it ; 
but  added,  that  several  loaves  are  often  consecrated  at  the 
same  time  to  be  given  to  the  people,  and  that  two  are  al- 
ways reserved  for  the  priest  and  deacon.  Our  consecrating 
the  elements  in  unconsecrated  places  seemed  also  to  stum- 
ble him.  He  denied  that  they  practise  infant  communion ; 
but  could  mention  no  particular  age  when  children  are  first 
admitted  to  the  ordinance.  They  are  sometimes  allowed  to 
come  at  five,  but  never  at  three  years  of  age.  We  inquir- 
ed what  preparation  is  deemed  necessary  before  partaking 
of  the  communion.  He  replied,  that  they  fast  from  the 
evening  before  until  its  celebration,  whether  it  be  at  morn- 
ing or  at  midday  prayers ;  and  that  they  settle  their  quarrels 
so  as  to  be  at  peace  with  each  other.  Auricular  confes- 
sion they  never  practise,  but  the  priests  read  to  the  assem- 
bled congregation  a  general  confession  embracing  five  sins. 
The  elements  are  received  by  the  people,  standing  before 
the  door  of  the  sanctuary.  Each  one,  he  said,  stoops  forward 
a  little  with  his  hand  open  under  his  chin,  while  the  priest 
breaks  off  a  bit  of  the  bread  and  puts  it  in  his  mouth.  He 
then  goes  in  the  same  posture  to  the  deacon,  and  drinks  the 
wine  from  a  bowl  in  his  hand.  The  bishop  was  careful  to 
say,  as  if  it  was  a  point  of  some  importance,  and  inquiring 
at  the  same  time  our  own  practice,  that  the  people  are  all 
served  first,  then  the  priest  partakes,  and  last  of  all  the 
deacon. 


248 

We  could  not  learn  from  him  that  the  canons  of  the 
Nestorian  church  designate  any  particular  age  for  the  bap- 
tism of  infants.  It  can  be  performed,  he  said,  only  on  the 
days  when  the  eucharist  is  celebrated,  and  is  generally  at- 
tended to  on  some  festival.  The  body  of  the  child  is  im- 
mersed in  water  up  to  the  breast  or  chin,  and  the  priest,  tak- 
ing up  water  in  his  hand  three  times,  pours  it  upon  his  head, 
first  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  then  in  the  name  of  the 
Son,  and  last  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  making  each 
time  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon  the  top  of  the  head.  When 
infants  die  before  baptism,  he  thought  like  Mar  Yohanna, 
that  their  souls  go  neither  to  heaven  nor  to  hell,  but  to  a 
place  prepared  specially  for  them. 

March  16.  A  continued  fall  of  rain  detained  us  the 
whole  day  at  Ardishai,  and  confined  us  to  the  bishop's  house. 
It  consisted  of  one  very  large  room,  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
high,  lighted  by  only  small  holes  in  the  terrace,  and  warm- 
ed by  only  a  tannoor  which  was  used  for  all  the  purposes  of 
cooking.  Besides  carpets,  felts,  mats,  matresses,  coverlets, 
and  cushion's,  (the  usual  furniture  of  a  Persian  peasant's 
house,)  we  noticed  an  additional  article  which  deserves  a 
description.  It  was  an  instrument  commonly  used  here  for 
cleaning  cotton ;  and  consisted  merely  of  two  plain  cylin- 
ders about  eighteen  inches  long,  one  of  wood  four  or  five 
inches  in  diameter,  and  the  other  of  iron  less  than  an  inch 
in  diameter.  The  larger  was  turned  by  a  crank,  and  being 
in  contact  with  the  smaller  turned  that  also.  The  fibres  of 
the  cotton  are  drawn  between  them  by  the  motion,  and 
thus  stripped  from  the  seeds,  which,  being  too  large  to  pass 
through,  roll  down  quite  naked.  The  process  is  slow,  ow- 
ing to  the  smallness  of  the  machine,  but  the  work  is  well 
done.  We  slept  at  night  upon  the  carpets  where  we  had 
sat  during  the  evening,  and  the  family  of  the  bishop's  moth- 
er, males  and  females,  scattered  themselves  promiscuously 
on  the  ground,  each  under  his  coverlet.     They  were  called 


FASTING.  249 

to  prayers  in  the  church  at  daybreak,  but  we  observed  no 
devotions  in  the  family  while  we  remained  in  it,  except  that 
one  man  on  rising  went  through  a  series  of  prostrations  and 
kneelings,  which  might,  but  for  the  frequent  signs  of  the 
cross  that  accompanied  them,  have  been  mistaken  for  a 
part  of  a  Mohammedan's  prayers.  The  bishop  informed  us 
that  the  Nestorians  have  forms  of  private  prayer,  which 
are  observed  by  some,  but  neglected  at  the  option  of  every 
individual. 

The  rule  of  fasting  which  Mar  Yoosuf  had  prescribed 
to  himself,  was  not  observed  by  Mar  Gabriel.  He  hesitated 
not  to  smoke  before  evening  prayers  yesterday ;  and  he 
ate  to  day  with  the  family  after  midday  prayers ;  but  until 
that  hour,  all  strictly  fasted.  The  bishop  at  Ada  had  grat- 
ified us  by  declining  to  drink  wine;  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
not  allowed  during  lent.  But  his  brother  of  Ardishai  urged 
us  to  join  him  in  a  glass  of  brandy.  We  proposed  to  sub- 
stitute wine  as  a  more  innocent  beverage,  but  he  likewise 
would  not  touch  it.  It  could  of  course  be  no  rule  of  tem- 
perance that  proscribed  its  use,  as  we  had  at  first  hoped : 
and  we  found  on  inquiry,  that  only  a  little  fat,  usually  put 
in  the  jars  to  preserve  it,  makes  it  a  forbidden  drink ;  while 
brandy  not  being  thus  contaminated,  may  be  drunk  with 
impunity.  Surely  this  is  straining  at  a  gnat  and  swallow- 
ing a  camel ! 

All  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  observed  the  day  as  a 
holiday,  abstaining  entirely  from  labor  ;  but  not  one  could 
tell  us  why,  nor  whether  it  is  dedicated  to  any  saint  or  not. 
The  bishop  said,  that  the  time  of  many  of  their  festivals, 
and  especially  of  Easter,  corresponds  with  the  Armenian 
calendar,  but  others  fall  on  different  days.  Christmas  is  ob- 
served on  the  25th  of  December.  He  admitted  that  they 
worship  the  saints,  and  that  prayers  to  them  are  scattered 
through  many  of  their  church  books.  We  inquired  if  the 
body  of  the  virgin  was  taken  up  to  heaven ;  and  were  at  first 
vol.  n.  22* 


250  ARGUMENT    WITH    A    CHALDEAN. 

answered  without  hesitation  that  it  is  still  in  the  grave ;  on 
recollecting,  however,  that  his  church  observes  the  festival 
of  the  Assumption,  he  hesitated,  and  said  he  must  look  in 
his  books. — Observing  him  and  a  deacon  leaving  the  house, 
in  the  course  of  the  morning,  with  a  prayer-book  and  cen- 
ser, we  inquired  their  object.  They  were  going,  he  re- 
plied, to  say  prayers  over  the  grave  of  a  person  lately  dead ; 
a  ceremony  that  is  performed  on  the  day  of  the  burial,  and 
on  the  third,  seventh,  and  fortieth  days  afterward.  Masses 
for  the  dead  ought  also  to  be  celebrated  on  the  same  days, 
but  none  had  been  said  this  morning,  as  their  church  was  a 
little  out  of  order. 

While  we  were  occupied  most  of  the  day  in  writing,  the 
bishop  spent  much  of  it  in  reading  and  chanting  from  our 
Syriac  Testament,  and  seemed  so  much  pleased  with  it, 
that  we  finally  gave  him  a  copy.     He  declared  that  he  had 
never  before  seen  the  character  in  which  it  was  printed, 
and  still  he  read  it  with  perfect  ease.     It  was  his  opinion, 
however,  that  it  could  not  be  read  by  his  clergy  generally. 
Its  language  he  pronounced  to   be  the  same  with  that  of 
their  church  books,  and  not  intelligible  to  the  people.     But 
he  showed  us  a  beautiful  copy  of  the  Pentateuch,  accompa- 
nied by  an  explanation  which  he  said  the  common  people 
can  understand.     Among  his  books,  was  one  with  now  and 
then  an  Arabic  sentence  interspersed,  which  seemed  to  in- 
dicate that  it  was  a  Syriac  grammar  upon  the  Arabic  sys- 
tem, but  the  bishop  could  not  tell  us  what  it  was. 

In  the  evening  a  Chaldean  joined  the  family  circle  of 
the  bishop,  and  an  animated  argument  upon  several  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  papal  church  was  introduced,  by  our  allu- 
ding to  the  history  of  the  defection  of  England  from  the 
faith  and  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of  the  pope.  I  can 
only  touch  very  briefly  upon  the  different  topics  discussed. 
— The  bishop  inquired  if  we  confess  to  our  priests,  and 
expressed  his  satisfaction  at  finding  that  we  agree  with  his 


ARGUMENT    WITH    A    CHALDEAN.  251 

own  church  in  confessing  to  God  only.     The  Chaldean 
said,  'Is  it  not  written,  "Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven?"  '     His  argument  was  an- 
swered,  by  our  reminding  him  that  this   assurance  was 
given  to  the  apostles  who  were  inspired,  and  not  to  their 
successors.     He  soon  found  another,  by  asking  if  the  rite 
of  absolution  was  not  enjoined  in  the  command  of  our 
Savior  to  Peter,  to  forgive  an  offending  brother  not  "until 
seven  times,  but  until  seventy  times  seven  1 "   He  was  made 
to  see,  that  what  Peter  was  ordered  to  forgive,  was  merely 
a  sin  against  himself,  and  not  sins  in  general.     Christ's 
direction  to  the  leper  to  show  himself  to  the  priest,  was 
then  pleaded  as  a  precedent  in  favor  of  auricular  confes- 
ion  to  the  priesthood.     But  the  topic  was  concluded  by  our 
showing,  that  the  custom  alluded  to  was  merely  a  sanitary 
regulation  of  the  Mosaic  law. — We  asked  the  Chaldean  if 
the  priests  of  his  church  administer  the  cup  to  the  laity  at 
communion.      '  They  do,'   said  he,   '  as  Christ   directed. 
They  break  the  consecrated  wafer  in  two  parts,  and  dip- 
ping one  in  the  wine,  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  it 
over  the  other,  and  then  give  it  to  the  people.'     'Which?' 
we  asked;  'the  one  dipped  in  the  wine?'     He  confessed, 
with  apparent  reluctance,  that  it  was  the  other.     We  then 
requested  the  bishop  to  read  Math.  26 :  26 — 28,  that  we 
might  see  how  Christ  directed  the  ordinance  to  be  admin- 
istered.    He  did  so  from  our  Syriac  Testament,  laying  a 
significant  emphasis  upon  the  command — "Drink  ye  all  of 
it ;"  and  the  Chaldean'was  silenced. 

We  mentioned,  as  another  difference  between  us  and 
the  papists,  that  we  admit  to  our  communion  members  of 
other  denominations.  '  Why,  so  do  we,'  said  the  bishop, 
'  we  consider  all  Christians  as  brethren ;  but  these  papists 
admit  none  but  papists  to  their  communion.'  We  assured 
him,  that  their  church  goes  still  farther,  and  teaches  that 


252  ARGUMENT    WITH    A    CHALDEAN. 

none  but  papists  can  be  saved.  The  Chaldean  would 
have  explained  the  doctrine  into  a  general  declaration,  that 
none  can  be  saved  who  depart  from  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  gospel.  But  Antonio  silenced  him  by  op- 
portunely declaring  that  the  papists  once  converted  him, 
and  one  of  the  dogmas  he  learned  from  them  was,  that 
out  of  the  Apostolical  Roman  Catholic  Church  there  is  no 
salvation. — The  principle  of  the  papal  church,  was  next  men- 
tioned by  us,  which  forbids  the  people  to  have  the  Scriptures 
in  a  language  they  can  understand.  It  was  new  to  the 
bishop,  and  he  asked,  with  great  astonishment,  the  reason 
of  it.  We  replied  that  the  papists  can  best  tell ;  but  as- 
sured him  that  it  is  so  strictly  enforced,  that  not  only  are 
people  who  happen  to  come  in  possession  of  them  often 
obliged  to  give  them  up,  but  we  have  actually  known  them 
to  be  burned. — The  subject  of  images,  too,  was  brought 
forward  in  an  inquiry  by  the  bishop,  if  we  use  them  in  any 
of  our  religious  ceremonies.  We  assured  him  that  we 
regard  them  as  utterly  prohibited  by  God,  and  referred  him 
to  Ex.  20 :  4,  for  our  authority.  He  turned  to  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  read  the  second  commandment  with  evident 
satisfaction,  as  a  triumphant  argument  against  the  Chal- 
dean. The  occasion  was  embraced  to  declare  to  the  com- 
pany many  particulars  respecting  the  image-worship  of  the 
papists,  especially  as  practised  at  Malta,  most  of  which 
were  new  and  surprising  to  them.  The  bishop  manifested 
the  deepest  interest  in  the  whole  conversation,  and  all  but 
the  Chaldean  seemed  highly  delighted. 

It  was  to  us,  also,  an  evening  of  the  most  intense  gratifi- 
cation. I  had  never  found  among  the  native  Christians  of 
Western  Asia,  any  who  would  go  such  lengths  with  me 
in  arguing  against  the  papists.  To  see  that  the  passages 
of  Scripture  appealed  to  in  proof  of  arguments  were  so 
well  understood,  was  likewise  pleasing.  In  fact,  in  all 
our   intercourse  with  the  Nestorians,  their  frequent  and 


STATE    OF    THE    MOUNTAINS.  253 

generally  correct  quotations  from  Scripture  were  quite  no- 
ticeable. They  seemed  to  feel  its  force  as  a  standard  of 
ultimate  appeal.  And  it  is  a  striking  fact,  that,  with  the 
exception  of  one  reference  to  the  Apostolical  Canons,  no 
resort  was  had  at  all  to  the  authority  of  Fathers  and  Coun- 
cils. We  were  also  not  sorry  to  give  countenance,  by  such 
an  argument,  to  the  Nestorians  in  opposition  to  the  Chal- 
deans. For  the  latter  seemed  always  to  anounce  them- 
selves as  Roman  Catholics  with  a  tone  of  self-congratula- 
tion for  their  orthodoxy,  and  assurance  that  we  would  es- 
teem them  the  more  for  it.  While  the  Nestorians  declared 
their  sentiments  with  diffidence,  as  if  they  expected  a  frown 
from  every  body,  and  especially  from  Europeans,  for  their 
heresy.  It  was  not  unimportant  to  show  them,  that  they 
are  not  alone  in  their  disapprobation  of  papacy. 

March  17.  I  have  mentioned  that  we  left  Tebriz  with 
the  intention  of  performing  the  circuit  of  the  lake  of  Oor- 
miah.  We  were  extremely  anxious  to  extend  our  journey 
into  the  heart  of  the  Kurdish  mountains,  and  visit  in  person 
Mar  Shimon  and  the  independent  Nestorians.  But  all  our 
English  friends  at  Tebriz  united  in  declaring  that  region 
entirely  inaccessible.  Not  that  among  the  Nestorians  them- 
selves, we  should  not  be  well  received  and  be  perfectly 
safe,  but  the  Kurds  which  surround  them  are  treacherous 
and  blood-thirsty  robbers,  entirely  beyond  the  control  of  the 
Persian  government.  Dr.  Schultz,  a  learned  German,  trav- 
elling under  the  auspices  of  the  king  of  France,  had  lately 
succeeded  in  reaching  Kochannes  ;  and  the  patriarch  and 
his  people  treated  him  well ;  but  on  his  return,  he  was 
murdered  by  the  very  guard  which  had  been  given  him  by 
a  Kurdish  beg  for  his  protection.  The  impracticability  of 
entering  the  mountains  was  affirmed  also  at  Khosrova,  at 
Ada,  and  at  other  places  among  the  Nestorians ;  and  even 
Mergaver,  the  nearest  mountainous  district  to  Ardishai,  was 
said  to  have  recently  defied  the  power  of  the  governor  of 


•254 


PLAIN    OF    OORMIAH. 


Oormiah.  We  learned  also  that  the  Kurds  around  Sool- 
dooz,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  lake,  were  in  a  state 
of  insubordination,  which  very  much  endangered  the  pas- 
sage by  that  route.  The  existence  of  the  plague  at  Ma- 
ragha  had  already  made  us  begin  to  doubuhe  expediency  of 
continuing  in  that  direction  ;  and  this  additional  obstacle 
now  completed  our  decision  to  return  by  the  way  that  we 
had  come.  To  vary  the  route  a  little,  we  determined 
to-day  to  turn  to  the  west  of  the  main  road  from  Oormiah 
to  Salmas,  about  as  far  as  Ada  is  to  the  east  of  it,  and  visit 
another  Neslorian  bishop  named  Ooraham  (Abraham)  at 
Armood-aghaj. 

We  left  Ardishai  at  an  early  hour,  and  for  awhile  took 
the  direct  road  to  Oormiah.  To  avoid  the  plague,  howev- 
er, we  refased  to  go  through  it,  and  only  passed  along  in 
sight  of  its  walls.  The  plain  maintained  in  this  direction 
its  general  character  for  beauty  and  fertility,  and  as  we 
passed  across  several  ploughed  fields,  we  were  made  more 
sensible  of  the  lightness  of  its  soil  by  the  depth  to  which 
our  horses  sunk  into  it  at  every  step.  Vineyards  were  nu- 
merous in  every  part,  and  like  the  gardens  were  invariably 
inclosed  by  a  wall,  while  nothing  separated  the  fields  of 
grain  from  the  open  common.  Both  the  vineyards  and  the 
gardens  generally  contained  small  houses,  which  reminded 
us  of  Matt.  21  :  33,  and  Is.  1  :  8,  and  we  asked  our  guide 
this  morning  what  was  their  object.  He  replied  that  they 
afford  shelter  and  lodgings  in  the  summer,  to  persons  who 
defend  the  vineyards  and  gardens  from  thieves,  and  cultivate 
them  and  gather  the  vintage. 

Armood-aghaj  is  a  very  small  village,  inhabited,  in  about 
equal  numbers,  by  moslems  and  Nestorians,  lying  near  the 
foot  of  the  mountains  on  the  northern  side  of  the  plain  about 
two  fursakhs  from  Oormiah,  and  five  from  Ardishai.  The 
bishop  was  absent  in  a  distant  village,  and  though  urged  to 
stop  while  his  family   should  send  for  him,  we  preferred 


EVENING    PRAYERS.  255 

seeking  for  better  accommodations  in  the  larger  village  of 
Koosy,  about  a  mile  distant.  We  were  received  at  Koosy, 
into  a  room  similar  in  size  and  appearance  to  that  which 
we  had  occupied  at  Ardishai,  and  the  people  treated  us,  as 
did  the  Nestorians  generally,  with  hospitality,  attention  and 
respect.  Fewer  assembled,  than  at  the  last  two  villages,  to 
visit  and  converse  with  us ;  but  they  were  not  without  their 
complaints.  Our  host  affirmed  that  government  exacts 
from  him  20  tomans  per  annum  for  his  family,  and  two 
thirds  of  the  produce  of  his  farm  ! 

At  evening  prayers,  we  were  pained  by  an  unusual  share 
of  that  want  of  reverence  for  sacred  things,  which  was  gen- 
erally observable  among  the  Nestorians,  both  in  church 
and  in  conversation  upon  religious  topics.  The  ceremo- 
nies differed  little  from  what  has  been  elsewhere  noticed. 
Incense  was  burned ;  the  officiators  wore  only  their  ordin- 
ary dress,  except  the  sash  and  the  band  for  the  left  shoulder 
used  by  the  deacon  in  reading  the  Psalter,  which  were  in 
this  instance  ornamented  by  several  crosses ;  and  each  one 
as  he  entered,  kissed  the  cross,  the  hand  of  the  bishop,  and 
of  his  fellow- worshipers.  The  women,  who  had  in  every 
church  occupied  the  farther  extremity  and  never  came  for- 
ward to  perform  this  ceremony,  were  observed  here  to  have 
a  cross  suspended  upon  the  wall  near  them,  which  they 
kissed  on  entering,  and  then  did  the  same  to  the  hands  of 
each  other. 

The  priest  followed  us  to  our  room,  and  spent  the  eve- 
ning ;  but  we  found  him  capable  of  giving  but  little  in- 
formation. He  confessed  that  he  was  but  eighteen  years 
of  age,  and  we  judged  from  his  appearance  that  he  was  no 
more  than  sixteen.  His  father,  who  was  the  former  priest, 
had  died  the  year  before  of  the  epidemic,  and  he  had  been 
ordained  since.  Not  that  the  office  of  priest  is  hereditary, 
for  all  agreed  that  it  is  not ;  but  the  choice  of  the  village, 
which  alone  determined  the  succession,  happened  to  fall 


256  NESTORIAN    MANUSCRIPTS. 

upon  him.  They  confirmed  the  fact,  that  the  episcopate 
is  hereditary,  and  mentioned  the  see  of  Nazy,  a  village  not 
far  distant,  which  is  at  present  vacant,  in  consequence  of 
the  heir's  being  too  young  to  receive  ordination,  and  not 
having  yet  completed  his  studies. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  we  found  no  printed  books 
among  the  Nestorians,  and  suggested  that  their  alphabet 
has  perhaps  never  been  printed.  We  inquired  in  every 
place  for  books,  but,  with  the  exception  of  the  grammar  at 
Ardishai,  we  found  only  the  books  of  the  church ;  and  they 
were  very  scarce.  The  Psalter,  the  Gospels,  and  Epistles, 
in  separate  volumes,  and  divided  into  lessons  for  the  daily 
service,  were  possessed  by  every  church ;  but  in  Jamalava 
the  two  latter  were  carried  every  night  to  the  house  of  the 
bishop,  for  fear  that  they  would  be  stolen.  Two  churches 
also  possessed  the  Pentateuch  ;  but  no  entire  copy  of  the 
Bible  was  heard  of  any  where.  Indeed  the  Chaldean  priest 
at  Khosrova  confessed  that  one  is  hardly  to  be  found.  He 
possessed  it  himself  only  in  the  Syriac  of  Walton's  Poly- 
glott,  a  work  which  he  had  procured,  we  understood  him 
to  say,  because  the  entire  Bible  does  not  exist  in  the 
Nestor ian  character..  He  assured  us,  that  the  Nestorian 
catalogues  of  the  books  held  to  be  canonical,  embrace  pre- 
cisely the  same  that  are  acknowledged  by  the  papal  church. 
We  asked  only  a  few  questions  on  this  point ;  but  the  bishop 
at  Jamalava  informed  us  that  the  Apocalypse,  the  epistle  of 
James,  and  Solomon's  song,  are  among  the  books  received 
by  them  as  canonical.  Some  ■  of  their  manuscripts  were 
fine  specimens  of  the  Estrangelo ;  especially  two,  which 
were  copies  of  the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  in  the  possession  of 
Mar  Gabriel  of  Ardishai.  But  an  extreme  unwillingness 
was  universally  manifested  to  part  with  any,  except  the 
Psalter,  for  the  alleged  reason  that  only  one  copy  was  own- 
ed by  a  village.  The  missal  of  the  church  at  Koosy  had 
been  recently  stolen,  and  the  priest  was  consequently  un- 


NESTORIAN    MANUSCRIPTS.  257 

able  to  celebrate  the  eucharist.  We  finally  succeeded  in 
purchasing  at  Jamalava  a  copy  of  the  Psalter  in  the  Nesto- 
rian  character,  and  another  of  the  epistles  in  the  Estrangelo. 
The  latter  was  written  in  1527  of  the  era  of  the  Seleucidse, 
which  is  still  used  by  the  Nestorians,  and  commences  311 
years  before  Christ.* 

We  inquired  at  Koosy,  as  usual,  for  manuscripts,  and 
were  told  that  the  village  possesses  a  very  venerable  one, 
written,  according  to  the  date  inserted  by  the  writer,  three 
hundred  years  before  the  Mohammedan  era.  We  had 
heard  of  its  fame  at  Ardishai,  and  at  our  request  to  see  it 
were  conducted  to  the  house  of  the  priest  where  it  was  kept. 
He  crossed  himself,  and  the  by-standers  uncovered  their 
heads,  as  he  opened  the  box  which  contained  it ;  and  ten 
silk  bags  and  handkerchiefs  which  covered  it,  were  then 
carefully  removed  one  by  one.  It  proved  to  be  a  neat  and 
well  preserved  copy  of  the  New  Testament  upon  parch- 
ment, in  small  Estrangelo  characters.  After  examining  it 
awhile,  without  touching  it,  we  returned  to  our  lodgings. 
In  proof  of  its  great  sanctity  and  miraculous  virtues,  the 
company  affirmed  that  even  the  moslems  believe  in  it ;  for 
they  not  only  bring  Christians  from  distant  villages  to  swear 
upon  it,  in  order  to  obtain  from  them  a  true  oath,  but  are 
even  afraid  to  swear  falsely  by  it  themselves.  When  asked 
for  the  reason  of  such  a  fear,  they  declared  that  the  falsity 
of  an  oath  is  detected  at  the  time,  by  a  miraculous  moving 
of  the  leaves  of  the  book,  and  afterward  death,  or  some  ter- 
rible calamity,  invariably  befalls  the  false  swearer  or  his 
nearest  friends.  Many  instances  of  such  effects  of  its  mi- 
raculous powers  had  been  known  by  them,  and  they  con- 
fessed that  so  great  was  their  fear  that  they  trembled  to 
speak  of  it.  We  inquired  if  any  other  manuscripts  of  a 
similar  antiquity  are  possessed  by  their  countrymen,   and 

*  These  manuscripts  are  now  deposited  in  the  Library  of  the  Board  at  the 
Missionary  Rooms. 

vol.  ii.  23 


258  INTERVIEW    WITH    MAR    OORAHAM. 

were  answered,  that  there  are  many  in  the  mountains,  one 
of  which  is  not  very  far  distant,  in  the  district  of  Garvar. 
They  affirmed  that  it  is  not  so  venerable  as  this,  but  imme- 
diately, as  if  afraid  of  defaming  it,  modified  the  expression 
by  saying,  that  nothing  however  could  be  said  against  that. 
— Our  offers  to  purchase  such  an  adored  manuscript,  were 
of  course  not  listened  to  a  moment.  Other  books  were 
brought  forward  ;  but  as  they  had  only  a  single  copy  of  each 
for  their  own  use,  none  could  be  bought. 

March  18.  We  left  at  an  early  hour  for  Jamalava,  dis- 
tant about  five  fursakhs.  After  four  or  five' miles  we  were 
hailed  and  stopped  by  a  man  in  pursuit  of  us.  It  was  Mar 
Ooraham  of  Armood-aghaj,  who,  it  appeared,  had  been 
sent  for  yesterday  by  his  friends  to  a  village  a  fursakh  or 
two  distant,  contrary  to  our  injunction.  Finding,  on  reach- 
ing home  this  morning,  that  we  were  gone,  he  had  pushed 
on  after  us.  His  first  words  confirmed  our  fears  that  he 
supposed  us  to  be  political  agents.  The  Nestorians,  he 
said,  were  the  last  Christians  left  in  the  hands  of  the  mos- 
lems  ;  their  oppressions  had  become  so  great  that  they 
could  be  endured  no  longer  ;  and  they  were  determined  to 
leave  the  country.  Would  not  the  kings  assist  them  1  We 
replied  that  we  were  simple  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
had  no  connection  with  such  subjects,  nor  any  information 
respecting  them.  '  They  told  me,'  said  he,  '  near  Ada, 
where  you  passed,  that  you  travelled  under  the  name  of 
Englishmen,  but  were  really  Russians ;  are  you  not  Rus- 
sians 1 '  We  assured  him  we  were  not,  and  that  he  would 
oblige  us  by  contradicting  such  a  report :  that  we  were 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  who,  having  come  from  a  very  dis- 
tant land,  were  now  among  the  Nestorians  on  a  religious 
visit.  Immediately  he  expressed  his  regret  that  we  had 
not  found  him  at  home,  as  he  should  have  taken  great 
pleasure  in  answering  our  inquiries,  and  if  we  wanted 
books,  he  had  them.     We  were  ourselves  sorry  not  to  have 


THE    TAKHSA.  259 

more  time  with  him,  for  he  seemed  the  most  intelligent 
Nestorian  bishop  we  had  seen.  He  was  mounted  on  a 
good  horse,  was  well  dressed  in  the  usual  Kurdish  costume, 
had  a  sword  hung  by  his  side,  and  •  a  bishop's  staff  in  his 
hand. 

When  speaking  of  books,  he  took  from  his  saddle-bags  a 
copy  of  the  Takhsa  and  Siinhedus.  The  former,  he  said, 
contained  the  offices  for  the  eucharist,  for  ordination,  and 
for  the  consecration  of  churches ;  the  three  functions  which 
a  bishop  is  most  liable  to  be  called  upon  to  perform :  the 
ordination  of  the  five  grades  below  him,  and  the  consecra- 
tion of  churches,  being  in  fact  his  peculiar  duties.  The 
canons  of  his  church,  he  assured  us,  require  the  eucharist 
to  be  celebrated  every  Sunday  and  Friday  throughout  the 
year.  It  is  actually  celebrated,  every  day  in  three  out  of 
the  seven  weeks  of  lent,  every  Sunday  and  festival  general- 
ly, and  whenever  a  baptism  is  to  be  performed  or  a  mass  is 
required  for  the  dead.  As  a  preparation  for  communion, 
they  practise  not  that  confession,  he  said,  in  which  sins  are 
told  in  the  ea'r  of  a  priest  and  money  is  given  ,•  but  if  a 
man's  conscience  is  burdened,  he  sometimes  goes,  of  his 
own  accord,  to  his  priest,  and  tells  him  he  is  a  sinner.  He 
then  fasts  three  days  in  the  church,  praying  and  putting 
ashes  under  him  ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  eucharist,  the 
priest,  laying  his  hand  upon  his  head,  reads  over  him  an 
absolution.  The  communion  is  then  administered  to  him. 
— The  Siinhedus,  he  said,  contains  all  the  laws  and  canons 
of  the  church,  and  by  it  a  bishop  can  decide  any  question 
th.at  is  liable  to  come  before  him.  In  the  case  of  a  propo- 
sed marriage,  for  example,  he  can  determine  from  it  wheth- 
er the  parties  are  within  the  forbidden  grades  of  consan- 
guinity ;  which  are,  he  affirmed,  in  the  Nestorian  church 
sixty-five  in  number,  including,  as  I  understood,  some 
grades  of  the  affinity  that  exists  between  sponsors  and  god- 
children.    The   same  book  contains  also  the  law   which 


260  CELEBRATION    OF    THE    EUCHARIST. 

allows  priests  to  marry  after  ordination ;  '  for,'  said  he,  '  we 
do  not  understand  the  passage  which  intimates  that  an 
elder  should  be  the  husband  of  one  wife,  (Tit.  1 :  6.)  as 
limiting  the  number  that  he  may  have  successively,  but  as 
prohibiting  him  to  have  more  than  one  at  a  time.'  We 
concluded,  from  his  description,  that  the  Sunhediis  contains 
most  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Nestorian  church,  and  were 
very  desirous  of  purchasing  it,  but  he  would  sell  neither  it 
nor  the  Takhsa. — In  the  course  of  the  conversation,  he 
forced  upon  us  a  present  of  a  large  quantity  of  raisins, 
which  he  had  brought  in  his  saddle-bags.  We  happened 
at  the  moment  to  pay  our  guide  a  penabad  for  his  services, 
and  were  embarrassed  to  see  the  bishop  take  it  with  a  smile 
of  thanks,  as  if  it  were  intended  for  himself.  It  seemed 
doubtful,  however,  whether  an  apology  was  most  due  from 
us  for  giving,  or  from  him  for  receiving  so  small  a  gratuity, 
and  we  suffered  him  to  put  it  quietly  in  his  pocket. 

Our  friends  at  Jamalava  seemed  rejoiced  to  see  us 
among  them  again ;  but  the  bishop,  with  whom  we  had 
conversed  so  much  a  week  before,  was  absent.  The  etf- 
charist  had  not  been  celebrated  in  any  of  the  churches  we 
had  visited,  and  we  expressed  to  the  priest  our  regret  at 
not  having  an  opportunity  to  witness  the  ceremony.  He 
said  that  to  gratify  us  it  should  be  performed  to-morrow, 
though  otherwise  it  would  not  have  occurred  until  Sunday 
morning. 

March  19.  We  were  awaked  when  the  priest  went  to 
church  at  early  dawn.  Himself  and  a  younger  son,  who 
officiated  as  deacon,  were  three  when  we  entered,  saying 
prayers  alone,  and  only  two  or  three  others  came  in  after 
awhile.  He  soon  sent  word  to  us,  that,  as  they  were  only 
saying  the  morning  prayers  which  were  long,  we  should  do 
well  to  return  to  our  room,  and  he  would  call  us  in  time  to 
witness  the  mass.  After  somewhat  more  than  an  hour,  a 
messenger  informed  us  that  it  was  "begun.     As  we  entered, 


CELEBRATION    OF    THE    EUCHARIST.  261 

a  curtain  was  withdrawn  from  the  door  of  the  sanctuary, 
and  the  priest,  with  his  son  the  deacon,  appeared  within. 
He  was  clothed  in  a  white  flowing  robe  with  sleeves;  a 
dark  colored  fillet  around  his  loins  answered  as  a  sash ; 
and  a  second  one  was  passed  around  his  neck  and  tucked 
under  the  other  in  front  A  white  mantle,  consisting  ap- 
parently of  only  a  plain  piece  of  cotton  or  silk  cloth,  so 
long  as  to  trail  upon  the  floor,  and  so  broad  as  to  cover  his 
hands  when  they  were  raised  in  supplication,  was  soon 
thrown  over  his  shoulders,  and  completed  his  dress.  The 
dress  of  the  deacon  was  similar*  except  that  he  had  not  the 
mantle,  and  instead  of  the  fillet  around  the  neck,  a  plain 
white  band  was  passed  over  his  right  shoulder  and  tucked 
under  the  sash  before  and  behind.  Their  heads  were  bare 
during  the  whole  ceremony ;  and  their  robes  altogether 
were  extremely  simple,  and  not  unbecoming. 

While  chanting  the  service,  they  walked  continually 
about  the  sanctuary,  the  deacon  burning  incense,  and  the 
priest  repeatedly  making  prostrations  on  either  side  and 
then  directly  in  front  of  the  altar,  approaching  it  kneeling 
and  kissing  the  ground  at  every  step,  and  finally  kissing 
the  altar  itself  as  he  reached  it.  Besides  occasionally  re- 
sponding, the  peo'ple  in  the  body  of  the  church  took  no 
part  in  the  services,  except  that  the  deacon  came  forward 
once  and  touched  the  hands  of  one  of  them,  and  then  the 
kissing  of  hands  passed  around  the  company.  At  length  a 
curtain,  being  dropped  before  trfe  sanctuary,  hid  the  officia- 
tors  from  our  view,  and  a  bell  commenced  ringing  within, 
which  nearly  drowned  the  chanting.  At  the  signal  of  a 
smaller  bell,  the  whole  congregation  crossed  themselves, 
and  bowed  their  heads,  a  minute  or  two,  in  silent  adoration. 
The  curtain  was  soon  removed,  and  the  priest  advanced 
to  the  door  of  the  sanctuary  with  the  Gospel,  and  read  it  to 
the  people  by  the  light  of  a  candle  held  by  the  deacon. 
He  seemed  occasionally  to  chant  a  verse,  and  then  to  read 
vol.  ii.  23* 


262  CELEBRATION    OF    THE    EUCHARIST. 

an  explanation  of  it  in  his  natural  tone.     The  people  care- 
fully uncovered  their  heads,  and  listened  with  the  greatest 
reverence ;  and  though  no  notice  was  taken  of  our  neglect- 
ing to  imitate  them  in  their  other  ceremonies,  they  now 
expressed  dissatisfaction  that  one  of  us  should  remain  with 
his  head  covered,  saying  to  him  that  it  was  the  Gospel. 
Immediately  after,  the  priest  brought  out  the  bread  in  a 
napkin,  a  part  of  which  was  passed  around  his  neck,  and 
the  deacon  brought  out  the  wine  in  a  metal  bowl  with  a 
napkin  under  it,  which  hung  down  in  front.     Each  com- 
municant in  succession  stood  before  the  priest,  who  broke 
off  a  bit  of  the  bread  and  put  it  into  his  mouth,  while  he 
held  his  hand  open  under  his  chin  to  catch  any  crumbs  of 
the  consecrated  element  that  might  chance  to  fall.     Then 
standing  in  like  manner  before  the  deacon,    each  drank 
from  the  bowl  in  his  hand,   wiping  his  mouth  afterward 
upon  the  napkin  that  hung  in  front  to  remove  any  drops 
that  might  have  adhered  to  his  lips  or  his  beard,  and  then 
returned  to  his  place  with  his  hand  upon  his  mouth.     One 
or  two  children  went  up,  and  partook  of  the  bread  and  not 
of  the  wine.     A  passage  (perhaps  a  hymn)  chanted  from 
the  Takhsa  by  the  priest,  succeeded,  and  the  ceremony 
was  closed  by  his  pronouncing  the  blessing.      He  soon 
brought  the  remnants  of  the  bread  to  the  door  of  the  bap- 
tistery, and  there  ate  them  with  several  who  had  commu- 
nicated.     The  whole  occupied  just  an  hour.     We  saw 
nothing  of  any  confession  "or  absolution  read  to  the  people, 
but  it  may  have  been  done  before  we  arrived.     The  only 
parts  of  the  service  addressed  to  the  assembly,  while  we 
were  there,  were  the  lesson  from  the  Gospel,  the  passage 
chanted  from  the  Takhsa,  and  the  blessing.     The  whole 
was  much  more  simple  than  any  mass  we  had  ever   at- 
tended; and  in  the  mode  of  communion  at  the  end,  almost 
a  scriptural  simplicity  might  be  recognized. 

We  left  Jamalava  immediately  after  these  ceremonies 


PROPOSED    MISSION  IN  PERSIA.  263 

were  concluded,  and  reached  Tebriz  again  in  health  on  the 
23d  of  March. 

Permit  me  to  add  to  this  report  of  our  visit  to  the  Nes- 
torians,  some  considerations  respecting  the  expediency  of 
establishing  a  mission  in  this  part  of  Persia, — We  have 
little  to  say,  in  addition  to  the  account  already  given  of  the 
Persian  moslems,  to  enable  you  to  judge  what  would  be  the 
prospects  of  a  mission  established  specially  for  them.  Such 
a  mission  we  are  not  prepared  decidedly  to  recommend  ; 
though  our  persuasion  is  strong,  that  a  missionary,  while 
directing  his  attention  expressly  and  primarily  to  the  Chris- 
tian population,  would  find  many  occasions  and  means  of 
doing  good  to  the  followers  of  Mohammed  also,  as  a  sec- 
ondary branch  of  labor. — The  Armenian  population  is  so 
small  and  dispersed  that  any  considerable  number  could 
with  difficulty  be  reached  ;  not  to  mention  another  certain- 
ly important  consideration — their  extreme  degradation.  In 
hesitating  to  recommend  these  two  classes  of  people  as 
promising  objects  of  missionary  labor  in  Persia,  we  are  of 
course  to  be  understood  as  declining  to  propose  the  city  of 
Tebriz  for  a  missionary  station. — But  to  the  Nestorians  of 
Oormiah  we  would  specially  direct  your  attention.  That 
Abbas  Mirza  would,  without  doubt,  patronize  missionary 
efforts  for  their  improvement,  and  in  fact  for  the  improvement 
of  all  his  Christian  subjects,  we  received  the  unanimous  tes- 
timony of  all  the  members  of  the  English  embassy.  Equally 
decided  assurance  was  given  us  that  missionary  families  in 
Oormiah,  would  be  secure  from  any  oppression  ;  for  besides 
being  favorably  regarded  by  the  prince,  the  embassador  also 
would  protect  them.  Among  others  who  accorded  with  these 
sentiments,  were  two  gentlemen,  who  had  resided  some 
time  in  that  province ;  and  one  of  them  added  that  the 
climate  is  very  fine.  Our  own  impression  respecting  the 
climate,  from  the  location  of  the  district  and  the  dampness 
and  fertility  of  its  soil,  is  that  it  must,  at  certain  seasons  of 


264  PROPOSED    MISSION  IN  PERSIA. 

the  year,  be  hot  and  productive  of  febrile  affections.  To 
the  hostile  incursions  of  the  predatory  Kurds,  too,  it  seems 
to  us  evident  that  Oormiah  must  be  exposed,  whenever  the 
government  of  Persia  is  disturbed  by  either  internal  or  for- 
eign causes.  But  we  must  not  calculate  too  closely  the 
chances  of  life.  Missionaries  to  any  part  of  the  great 
field — the  world,  should  ever  go  forth  with  a  martyr's 
spirit,  '  hazarding  their  lives  for  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.' 

That  religious  instruction  is  needed  by  the  Nestorians, 
this  and  the  preceding  letter  will   have  sufficiently  convin- 
ced you.     How  it  would  be  received  by  them,   experiment 
alone  can  fully  determine.     We  cannot  but  refer  you,  how- 
ever, to  their  extreme  liberality  toward  other  sects,  their 
ideas  of  open  communion,   and  their  entire  rejection  of 
auricular  confession,   (that  efficient  police  system  of  the 
other  old  churches,)  as  considerations  which  have  produced 
in  our  minds  a  firm  conviction,  that  a  mission  to  the  Nesto- 
rians  would  meet  with  far  fewer  obstacles,  than  among  any 
other  of  the  old  churches.     The   week  that  we   passed 
among  them  was  among  the  most  intensely  interesting  of 
our  lives.     For  myself,  I  felt  a  stronger  desire  to  settle 
among  them  at  once  as  a  missionary,  than  among  any  peo- 
ple I  have  ever  seen.     A  mission  family  there  would  indeed 
be  lonely.     Its  nearest  European  acquaintances  would  be 
the  English  at  Tebriz,  about  a  hundred  miles  distant ;  and 
even  they  will  remain  at  that  city  no  longer  than  it  is  the 
seat  of  Abbas  Mirza's  government.     Among  the  natives, 
there  would  be  no  intelligent  society.     If  the  notions  of  the 
Nestorians  are  like  those  of  the  Armenians  at  Shoosha  and 
Tebriz,  of  which  there   is  little  doubt,  no  female  domestics 
even  could  be  obtained.     Great  facilities  for  communication 
with  home  by  letter  would  be  afforded  through  the  English 
embassy,  which  receives  an  express  by  a  tartar  from  Constan- 
tinople, and  returns  one,  about  once  a  month.     The  dis- 


PROPOSED    MISSION  IN  PERSIA.  265 

tance,  which  is  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  miles,  is  usually 
performed  in  eighteen  or  twenty  days.  Boxes  would  come 
expeditiously  and  safely  from  Constantinople,  by  way  of 
Trebizond  and  Erzroom,  making  a  land  carriage  from 
Trebizond  of  five  or  six  hundred  miles. 

Self-denying  indeed,  and  laborious  would  be  the  lot  of  a 
missionary  in  Oormiah.  But  let  him  enter  the  field  with 
the  self-devotion  which  reconciled  Brainerd  to  a  wigwam, 
and  inspired  Martyn  with  that  noble  sentiment — "  Even 
if  I  never  should  see  a  native  converted,  God  may  design 
by  my  patience  and  continuance  in  the  work  to  encourage 
future  missionaries" — and  contentment  also  will  be  a  por- 
tion of  his  cup.  And  as  he  plants  one  truth  after  another 
in  the  mind  of  an  ignorant  Nestorian,  and  sees  it  take  root 
and  bear  fruit,  thus  restoring  to  the  oldest  of  Christian  sects 
1  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,'  and  beginning  the 
conquests  of  Christianity  in  a  kingdom  where  it  has  never 
triumphed,  a  joy  which  the  world  knows  not  of  will  likewise 
be  his.  He  will  feel,  also,  the  advantage  of  his  position ; 
that  he  has  found  a  prop  upon,  which  to  rest  the  lever  that 
will  overturn  the  whole  system  of  Mohammedan  delusion, 
in  the  centre  of  which  he  has  fixed  himself;  that  he  is 
lighting  a  fire  which  will  shine  out  upon  the  corruptions  of 
the  Persian  on  the  one  side,  and  upon  the  barbarities  of  the 
Kurd  on  the  other,  until  all  shall  come  to  be  enlightened 
by  its  brightness  ;  and  the  triumph  of  faith  will  crown  his 
labor  of  love. 


LETTER    XXII. 

FROM     TEBRIZ      TO      K AR A-KE L E E S E H  . 

Leave  Tebriz — Precaution  against  robbers  from  Khoy — Enter  the  country  of 
the  Kurds — Arts  of  our  guide  at  Zoraba — And  at  Keleeseh — Cross  the 
Turkish  frontier — Bayezeed — Diadeen — Uch-keleeseh,  or  Soorp  Garabed 
— Incivility  of  the  Kurds — Peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Armenians  respecting 
the  nature  of  Christ — Habits  of  the  wandering  Kurds — Pastoral  observa- 
tions— Kara-keleeseh . 

Dear  Sir, 

Being  unable  on  our  return  from  Oormiah  to  obtain  any- 
satisfactory  information  from  Bagdad,  we  determined  to 
move  toward  Constantinople,  by  the  usual  caravan  route 
through  Bayezeed  to  Erzroom.  We  at  first  engaged  horses 
to  accompany  a  large  caravan ;  but  they  were  seized  by 
government  for  the  transportation  of  army  stores,  and  our 
contract  of  course  failed.  The  disappointment  was  fortu- 
nate, however,  for  the  motions  of  the  caravan  were  so  slow, 
lhat  we  actually  reached  Erzroom  many  days  before  it. 
Horses  were  next  engaged  to  take  us  alone  to  Bayezeed  in 
seven  days.  With  them  we  left  Tebriz  on  the  9th  of 
April,  and  on  the  11th  reached  Khoy,  by  the  route  which 
has  been  already  described. 

April  12.  The  acting  British  envoy  had  the  kindness  to 
furnish  us,  on  leaving  Tebriz,  with  letters  to  the  author- 
ities at  Khoy.  We  caused  them  to  be  presented  yesterday, 
with  a  petition  for  passports  and  a  guide  to  Bayezeed. 
The  passports  were  given  on  the  spot,  and  the  guide 
promised  in  the  morning ;  but  it  was  late  to-day  before  he 
presented  himself.     He  was  a  glioolam^  or  page,  of  the 


COUNTRY  OF  THE  KURDS.  267 

prince,  and  a  complete  Persian  in  politeness  and  duplicity, 
but  was  small  and  young.  The  part  he  was  to  act,  howev- 
er, required  neither  courage  nor  strength.  The  road  from 
Khoy  to  Bayezeed  is  not  beset  by  openly  lawless  banditti, 
or  a  regular  guard  would  have  been  necessary.  The  only 
risk  is  a  slight  one  from  Kurdish  borderers  in  crossing  the 
frontier ;  and  we  took  this  attendant  as  an  insurance  in 
case  of  accident  from  them.  For  his  presence  made  the 
Persian  government  responsible  for  whatever  might  befall 
ourselves  or  our  property. 

We  left  Khoy  at  a  quarter  before  11  A.  M.  and  at  1 
P.  M.  reached  the  extremity  of  the  plain,  just  beyond  the 
village  of  Pereh.  In  the  warm  recesses  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  were  a  number  of  black  tents  of  Kurds.  They 
were  just  leaving  their  winter-quarters  in  the  villages  of  the 
plain,  and  beginning  to  ascend  the  mountains  for  their  no- 
madic summer  residence.  The  mountains  before  us  might 
be  considered  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  country  of  the 
Kurds,  being  entirely  overrun  in  the  summer  by  their 
flocks.  They  are  here  subject  indeed  to  the  Persian  gov- 
ernment, and  in  the  parts  nearest  Khoy  contain  some  mos- 
lem  villages  of  the  Turkish  language  and  of  the  sheey 
faith  ;  but  extending  southward  between  the  lakes  of  Oor- 
miah  and  Van,  they  become  more  exclusively  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Kurds ;  and  finally  in  the  Hakary  country  are 
entirely  independent.  Our  ascent  of  them  was  gradual 
but  long.  An  arable  tract  succeeded,  with  some  villages 
upon  it.  At  the  farthest  of  them,  named  "Zoraba,  we  stop- 
ped at  a  quarter  past  6  P.  M.  having  made  five  fursakhs. 

A  room  was  prepared  for  us  at  the  direction  of  our 
guide;  who  claimed,  also,  to  act  as  mihmandar,  and  pro- 
vide not  only  lodgings  but  food  for  us  gratis.  We  had  been 
cautioned  against  such  a  mode  of  entertainment,  as  being  of- 
fensive to  the  people,  and  in  the  end  troublesome  to  the  trav- 
eller;  and  therefore  informed  him,  that  we  had  applied  for 


268  ARTS    OF   A   MIHMANDAR. 

merely  a  guide,  and  if  the  prince  had  clothed  him  with  the 
powers  of  a  mihmandar,  it  was  indeed  an  act  of  kindness, 
but  one  which  we  felt  at  liberty  to  decline,  and  we  should 
pursue  our  usual  course  of  ordering  our  own  dinner  and 
paying  for  it.  He  took  it  ill  that  we  entertained  so  low 
ideas  of  his  own  importance  and  of  the  prince's  hospitality, 
as  to  suppose  that  he  had  been  sent  merely  to  conduct  us ; 
and  not  to  be  wholly  divested  of  his  assumed  character, 
he  ordered  four  or  five  fowls  for  himself,  and  food  for  our 
muleteers  and  their  horses.  But  the  supper  and  the  honor 
of  the  office,  were  not  all  he  sought.  He  should  give 
the  ketkhoda,  he  said,  a  written  acknowledgment  for 
perhaps  double  the  value  of  what  was  consumed,  which 
would  be  accepted  at  the  prince's  treasury  in  lieu  of  taxes 
to  that  amount  from  the  village.  "What  was  gained  by  the 
embezzlement  would  be  divided  between  them. 

April  13.  We  started  at  a  quarter  after  5  A.  M.  and 
travelled  the  whole  day  over  mountains,  with  the  exception 
of  one  plain  about  midway  five  or  six  miles  in  extent. 
Several  villages  appeared  upon  it,  and  the  structure  of  their 
houses  showed  that  we  were  leaving  the  Persian  part  of 
Armenia.  Instead  of  naked  mud  walls,  they  had  walls  of 
stone  half  buried  beneath  the  ground,  in  the  style  we  had 
noticed  on  first  approaching  Erzroom,  and  which  now  con- 
tinued from  hence  to  that  city.  The  mountains  retained 
the  striking  feature,  conlmon  to  all  we  saw  in  Persia,  of  en- 
tire nakedness  of  tree  or  shrub ;  but  they  assumed  more  of 
the  swelling  form  of  those  around  Erzroom,  and  were  adap- 
ted to  afford  an  immense  extent  of  pasturage.  We  found 
upon  the  higher  parts  extensive  and  deep  banks  of  snow ; 
and  it  snowed  for  several  hours  the  early  part  of  the  day. 

Toward  evening  we  crossed  another  elevated  plain,  per- 
haps eight  miles  long,  with  snow  still  lying  upon  it  in 
several  places,  and  at  6  P.  M.  stopped  at  a  village  on  its 
farther  side,  10  fursakhs  from  Zoraba.     It  is  named  Ke- 


ENTER   TURKEY.  269 

leeseh,  or  the  church,  from  the  ruins  of  an  old  church 
around  which  it  is  built.  Its  former  inhabitants  were  Ar- 
menians ;  but  they  had  emigrated  to  the  Russian  provinces, 
and  it  was  now  occupied  by  a  few  poor  moslem  families 
from  Erivan.  They  completely  disregarded  the  authority 
of  our  guide ;  and  after  scolding  long,  and  threatening  them 
with  the  wrath  of  the  prince  to  the  complete  destruction  of 
their  village,  he  was  unable  to  procure  us  even  a  room.  We 
applied  money  instead  of  threats,  and  obtained  whatever  we 
wanted ;  not,  however,  without  a  serious  complaint  from  him, 
that  we  were  paying  the  villagers  what  was  his  own  per- 
quisite. For  he  now  confessed  that  he  expected,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  embezzlement  already  alluded  to,  to  receive 
himself  at  the  end  of  the  journey,  for  providing  for  us  gratis, 
what  we  should  otherwise  have  paid  to  those  who  enter- 
tained us.  Such,  he  said,  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which  the 
prince  pays  his  servants  ;  and  it  proved  that  our  muleteers 
actually  paid  him  last  night,  instead  of  our  host,  for  their 
horses'  barley  and  straw. 

April  14.  Leaving  Keleeseh  at  half  past  5  A.  M.  we 
ascended  and  rode  for  an  hour  or  two  over  a  high  and 
dreary  mountain,  covered  almost  entirely  with  deep  snow. 
It  is  perhaps  the  Niphates  of  the  Greeks,  and  forms,  we  sup- 
posed, the  boundary  between  Persia  and  Turkey  ;  for  the  vil- 
lage where  we  spent  the  night  is  in  Persia,  and  the  next 
place  is  Bayezeed  in  Turkey.  It  was  not  an  unfit  place 
for  border  tales  ;  and  on  its  top  five  or  six  Persians  from  the 
district  of  Ovajik,  stopped  us  to  complain,  that  the  men  of 
Bayezeed  had  stolen  from  them  cattle  to  the  amount  of  500 
tomans,  besides  inducing  five  or  six  villages  of  their  Armen- 
ian neighbors  to  remove  into  the  Turkish  territory.  They 
had  plead  for  redress  at  Bayezeed,  they  said,  in  vain ;  and 
now  begged  that  we,  as  elchies  (embassadors),  would  pre- 
sent their  case  to  their  consul  at  Erzroom.  We  descended, 
at  8  o'clock,  into  the  head  of  a  plain  extending  to  the  west, 

vol.  ii.  24 


270 


BAYEZEED. 


and  crossed  a  small  stream  running  also  in  that  direction, 
being  probably  one  of  the  first  branches  of  the  Murad-chai. 
Turning  northward,  we  were  in  full  view  of  the  back  of 
mount  Ararat,  and  apparently  near  it.  It  presented  much 
the  same  aspect  as  when  viewed  from  the  valley  of  the 
Aras.  The  foot  of  it  on  this  side  is  inhabited  by  a  small 
body  of  that  singular  sect,  the  Yezeedies,  reputed  worship- 
ers of  Satan.  They  number  about  300  families,  and 
inhabit  three  villages,  one  of  which  is  named  Kara-boolak. 

Continuing  northward  over  a  few  barren  hills,  we  came 
in  sight  of  Bayezeed.  It  hangs  romantically  upon  the  side 
of  a  rugged  precipice,  which  rises  some  distance  above  it. 
A  citadel,  containing  a  well-built  mosk  and  the  pasha's  ex- 
tensive palace,  occupies  a  lofty  projection  at  the  top.  West- 
ward extends  a  broad  plain,  which,  according  to  an  intelli- 
gent vartabed  at  Uch-keleeseh,  once  formed  a  part  of  the 
Armenian  canton  of  Gokaiovid.  If  so,  the  mountain  which 
now  separates  Persia  from  Turkey,  was  anciently  the 
western  boundary  of  Vasbooragan,  and  we  are  again  in 
the  province  of  Ararad.*  We  entered  the  town  at  11 
A.  M.  It  was  in  a  miserable,  ruined  state,  and  we  saw 
not  one  decent  house  besides  the  pasha's.  Most  of  them 
were  constructed  like  the  under-ground  cabins  of  the  vil- 
lages ;  the  streets  were  obstructed  by  every  species  of  filth ; 
and  nearly  all  the  shops  in  the  bazar,  originally  but  very 
few,  were  deserted.  The  Russians  had  left  behind  them 
the  same  desolation  as  at  Erzroom  and  at  Kars. 

The  Armenians  of  Bayezeed  are  said  once  to  have  been 
numerous,  but  now  there  are  only  about  190  families  of  that 
nation.  Their  school  has  not  been  revived  since  the  war. 
They  have  five  priests,  but  no  bishop ;  nor  had  they  for- 
merly one  of  their  own,  their  town  being  included  in  the 
diocese  of  the  bishop  of  Tateos  Arakeal.  The  moslem  in- 
habitants amount  to  only  three  or  four  hundred  families. 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  108. 


BAYEZEED.  271 

They  are  nearly  all  Kurds,  Kurdish  is  the  common  lan- 
guage of  the  place,  and  in  fact,  the  whole  pashalik  of  which 
it  is  the  capital  forms  an  integral  part  of  Kurdistan.  The 
pasha  himself  is  of  a  native  Kurdish  family ;  but  he  re- 
ceives his  commands,  if-  not  his  office,  from  the  pasha  of 
Erzroom,  and  has  only  the  rank  of  two  tails.  His  subor- 
dination seems  now  to  be  complete,  and  he  no  longer  dares 
act  the  robber,  as  when  M.  Jaubert  was  here  so  long 
imprisoned,  and  so  cruelly  treated.  Soldiers  of  the  Sultan's 
new  discipline  were  maneuvring.  with  drum  and  fife  in 
his  citadel,  and  his  own  son  was  exercising  himself  in  the 
European  tactics.  He  was  now  absent  on  a  visit  to  his 
superior  at  Erzroom,  but  his  kakhia  received  our  fermans 
with  great  respect ;  a  tartar  was  immediately  provided  to 
conduct  us  safely  to  Erzroom ;  and,  no  regular  posts  hav- 
ing yet  been  established  since  the  war,  an  order  was  offer- 
ed us  for  horses  from  village  to  village.  We  accepted  the 
tartar  for  the  same  reason  that  we  had  taken  a  guide  from 
Khoy — to  make  the  government  responsible  in  case  of  ac- 
cident ;  but  fearing  trouble  in  procuring  the  horses  we  de- 
clined the  order  for  them,  and  hired  caravan  horses  for  the 
whole  distance. 

April  15.  We  left  Bayezeed  at  a  quarter  before  8  A.  M. 
and  directed  our  course  westward  through  the  plain.  In 
about  an  hour  a  small  stream  crossed  our  path,  running 
to  the  right.  It  passes,  we  were  told,  around  the  Magoo 
side  of  mount  Ararat,  and  empties  into  the  Aras  between 
that  mountain  and  Nakhchevan.  It  is  probably  the  Dugh- 
mood  of  the  Armenians,  and  the  Ak-chai  of  the  Turks,* 
though  we  did  not  learn  its  present  name.  Our  prospect 
was  extremely  limited  by  fog  and  rain,  but  what  we  saw  of 
the  country  was  most  desolate;  not  a  village,  nor  hardly 
any  cultivation  appeared  the  whole  day.  Deep  mud,  cau- 
sed by  the  storm,  impeded  our  progress ;  one  of  our  horses, 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  41. 


292  DIADEEN. 

all  of  which  proved  to  be  miserable,  failed  entirely  before 
we  had  accomplished  half  the  stage ;  and  our  tartar,  (him- 
self a  Kurd,  in  nation,  language  and  manners,)  occasional- 
ly pointed  to  heaps  of  stones  upon  graves  along  the  road,  to 
remind  us  how  many  murders  had  here  been  committed 
by  Kurdish  robbers.  We  finally  crossed  a  small  mountain, 
covered  with  snow  of  some  depth,  a  part  of  which  had  fal- 
len during  the  day,  and  descended  to  Diadeen,  having 
accomplished  six  Turkish  hours  in  nine. 

A  miserable  ride  was  followed  by  more  miserable  accom- 
modations. Diadeen,  if  we  may  credit  the  information  of 
the  vartabed  at  Uch-keleeseh  alluded  to  at  Bayezeed,  occu- 
pies the  site  of  the  ancient  Zarehavan  (Zaruana),  a  town  of 
some  note  in  the  history  of  Armenia.  The  modern  village 
was  until  recently  a  place  of  some  importance,  and*  con- 
tained many  Armenian  families  with  about  forty  shops. 
It  has  now  the  ruins  of  a  walled  citadel,  which  are  oc- 
cupied by  a  mutsellim,  or  governor.  All  the  Christians, 
except  three  families,  retired  with  the  Russians,  and  only 
twenty  or  thirty  poor  moslem  families  occupy  a  few  dilapi- 
dated cabins.  They  are  all  of  Kurdish  descent,  and  speak 
the  Kurdish  language.  We  found  a  corner  in  the  house  of 
an  old  Kurd,  which  sheltered  us  from  the  storm,  but  was 
exceedingly  small  and  dirty. 

April  16.  Diadeen  stands  on  the  northern  bank  of  the 
eastern  branch  of  the  Euphrates,  now  called  Murad-chai, 
or  the  river  of  Murad.  After  waiting  awhile  in  the  morn- 
ing for  the  rain  to  cease,  and  for  our  muleteer  to  exchange 
his  worn-out  horse  for  one  more  serviceable,  we  started, 
and  followed  the  uncultivated  and  deserted  valley  of  the 
river  westward  to  Uch-keleeseh,  a  distance  of  three  hours. 
It  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and,  a  few  rods  before 
reaching  it,  though  the  stream  was  swollen  by  the  rain,  a 
bridge  of  only  three  or  four  logs  covered  with  weeds  and 
earth  conducted  .us  over  without  difficulty. 


UCH-KELEESEH.  273 

We  spent  the  remainder  of  the  16th,  and  the  next  day 
which  was  the  Sabbath,  at  Uch-keleeseh.  It  is.  a  convent 
of  the  Armenians,  and  is  named  by  them  Soorp  Garabed 
(the  holy  forerunner)  after  John  the  baptist,  of  whom  it 
contains  a  relic.  This  relic,  however,  the  monks  allowed, 
does  not  give  to  their  convent  so  much  notoriety,  as  has 
been  imparted  to  another  near  Moosh  dedicated  to  the 
same  saint,  by  a  relic  of  him  inclosed  in  a  tomb,  which 
has  been  a  great  object  of  pilgrimage.  The  circumstance 
which  contributes  most  to  its  celebrity  is,  that  it  stands, 
according  to  the  traditions  of  the  nation,  on  the  spot  where 
St.  Gregory  baptized  king  Durtad.  Its  inmates  assured 
us,  that  the  church  which  is  now  standing,  was  built  by 
the  saint  himself  1525  years  ago,  just  after  that  event.  It 
is  an  extremely  solid  fabric  of  hewn  stone,  in  the  best  an- 
cient style  of  the  country,  with  arches  and  vaults  of  fine 
proportions,  and  surpasses  in  size  any  Armenian  church 
we  had  seen.  Though  evidently  old,  every  part  was  in 
good  preservation;  but  an  almost  entire  absence  of  car- 
pets, lamps,  and  every  species  of  furniture  and  ornament, 
made  it  appear  naked  and  poor.  It  stands  at  the  base  of 
an  isolated  mountain,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  high  wall. 

Being  a  usual  station  for  the  numerous  travellers  and 
caravans  that  pass  between  Tebriz  and  Erzroom,  accom- 
modations answering  to  a  caravanserai  had  been  fitted  up 
on  the  outside.  We  were  not  honored  with  an  invitation 
to  lodge  within,  and  slept  in  an  apartment  Connected  with 
a  stable.  A  Kurdish  officer  of  the  pasha,  stationed  here  to 
secure  the  establishment  from  depredations,  together  with 
our  tartar  and  muleteer,  both  likewise  Kurds,  claimed  to 
share  in  our  accommodations.  But  by  attempering  deci- 
sion with  fair  words,  we  finally  rid  ourselves  of  them  all. 
Perhaps  a  recent  familiarity  with  Persian  politeness  made 
us  more   sensitive  to  the  boorishness  of  the   Kurds :  bu  t 

vol.  ii.  24* 


274  ORTHODOX  ARMENIANS  OF  AGN. 

we  received  the  distinct  impression,  that  we  never  met  with 
a  more  uncivil  people. 

This  convent  is  well  known  in  the  history  of  Armenian 
monasticism,  and  was  for  a  time  in  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  the  residence  of  a  Catholicos  who  attempt- 
ed to  supplant  the  occupant  of  the  see  of  Echmiadzin.  No 
bishop  now  resides  in  it,  and  it  is  inhabited  by  only  five 
vartabeds  and  a  few  deacons.  They  confessed  that  its 
former  large  income  from  pilgrims  who  stopped  here  on 
their  way  to  Echmiadzin,  and  from  its  own  glebes,  has  now 
almost  entirely  ceased.  It  owns  several  districts,  but  the 
emigration  to  trie  Russian  territories  had  stripped  them  of 
tenants  and  of  cattle,  and,  with  the  exception  of  what  is 
raised  by  a  few  laborers,  they  remain  unproductive.  The 
superior  represented  that  this  emigration  was  effected  by 
much  urging  and  force,  on  the  part  of  the  invaders.  They 
carried  him,  he  affirmed,  as  far  as  Echmiadzin,  saying  that 
unless  led  by  him,  the  people  would  not  remove.  Nearly 
all  the  Armenians  have  gone  from  these  parts,  and  there 
is  now  no  school  in  the  convent  nor  in  the  whole  region 
around. 

We  had  much  conversation  with  the  vartabeds  on  seve- 
ral topics,  most  of  which  have  been  already  exhibited. 
One  or  two  only  have  been  reserved  for  this  place.  An 
allusion  has  been  made  in  the  Introduction  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  monophysite  error  among  the  Armeni- 
ans, in  consequence  of  which  they  were  cut  off  from  the 
general  church,  and  have  ever  been  regarded  by  the 
papists  and  the  Greeks  as  heretical.  A  few  seem  to 
have  escaped  the  heresy,  and  retain  until  the  present 
time  their  connection  with  the  oriental  Greek  church. 
For  there  now  exists  a  small  body  of  orthodox  Armenians 
at  Agn,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Euphrates  to  the  north 
of  Arabkir.  We  met  one  of  them  at  Echmiadzin.  He 
was  a  banker,  and  one  of  the  most  gentlemanly  Armenians 


MONOPHYSITISM    OF  THE    ARMENIANS.  275 

we  have  seen.  He  informed  us  that  his  native  place  was 
30  hours  from  Diarbekr,  30  from  Sivas,  and-  16  from 
Maaden.  In  its  vicinity  are  five  villages,  whose  inhabitants 
speak  the  Armenian  language,  but  are  of  the  Greek. church, 
and  have  a  bishop  of  their  own  who  is  subject  to  the  Greek 
patriarch  of  Constantinople.  They  formerly  enjoyed  many 
immunities,  he  said,  from  the  Turkish  government.  But 
the  Russians,  when  at  Erzroom,  induced  them  to  rise,  and 
.they  had  since  suffered  much  persecution.  Another  in- 
formant declares,  that  their  church  books  are  in  Armenian, 
and  when  on  the  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  they  often  prefer, 
in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  Greeks,  to  attend  the  Ar- 
menian services,  because  they  understand  them,  while  of 
the  Greek  they  can  comprehend  nothing.  The  little  clan 
of  Aguntsi,  or  Armenians  of  Agn,  are  well  known  in  the 
nation,  and  are  especially  celebrated  as  bankers.  Some  of 
them  are  among  the  wealthiest  of  that  profession  in  Con- 
stantinople. We  heard  of  no  other  Armenians  belonging 
to  the  Greek  church.* 

One  of  the  vartabeds  here  seemed  much  better  informed 
than  the  rest,  and  as  we  were  conversing  upon  various  top- 
ics, he  introduced  of  his  own  accord  the  monophysitism  of 
his  church,  by  declaring  that  it  receives  only  the  first  three 
of  the  general  councils.  Nestorius,  he  said,  held  to  a 
perfect  separation  of  the  divinity  and  humanity  of  Christ, 

*  Though  the  Syrian  nation,  almost  as  generally  as  the  Armenian,  has 
been  infected  with  heresy,  either  monophysite  or  Nestorian,  a  remnant  of  that 
too  seems  to  have  preserved  its  orthodoxy.  We  met  at  Shoosha  a  poor  Sy- 
rian priest,  who  was  begging  aid  to  redeem  his  children,  who  had  been 
seized  by  the  Persians  and  sold  into  slavery  at  Van.  His  native  village,  he 
said,  was  Bzey,  8  days  from  Bagdad.  He  assured  us  that  he  was  of  the  or- 
thodox Greek  church,  and  that  in  his  vicinity  in  Mesopotamia  there  are  six 
villages  of  the  same  faith.  Their  church  service  is  in  Syriac,  which  was 
likewise  his  native  tongue,  though  he  spoke  also  Arabic  and  Turkish  im- 
perfectly. They  are  subject  to  the  Greek  patriarch  at  Damascus,  who  is 
nnw  the  orthodox  iricumbent  of  the  see  of  Antioch. 


276  PECULIAR   DOCTRINES    RESPECTING    CHRIST. 

and  Eutyches  taught  that  his  humanity  is  absorbed  in  his 
divinity ;  the  Armenians,  agreeing  with  neither,  believe 
that  the  two  natures  are  united  in  one,  and  anathematize 
all  who  hold  to  a  different  creed.  «In  this  he  spoke  ad- 
visedly, for  it  is  well  known  that  Eutyches  is  acknowledged 
by  neither  of  the  three  monophysite  sects,  the  Armenian, 
the  Jacobite  Syrian,  and  the  Coptic  including  the  Abys- 
sinian, to  which  his  controversy  gave  birth ;  and  that  his  al- 
ledged  dogma  of  a  confusion  in  the  natures  of  Christ  is  the 
reason  of  his  rejection,  though  perhaps  a  candid  investiga- 
tion will  hardly  find  him  chargeable  with  such  an  opin- 
ion.* Another  intelligent  ecclesiastic  had  told  us,  that  not 
only  does  his  nation  hold  to  one  nature,  but  also  to  only 
one  will  in  Christ,  thus  making  the  Armenians  partake 
in  the  monothelite  as  well  as  in  the  monophysite  heresy .f 

We  inquired  of  the  vartabed  if  his  sect  does  not  believe 
that  Christ  was  perfect  God  and  perfect  man,  and  were 
assured  that  it  does.  Here  too  he  had  good  authority,  for 
the  Armenian  church  believes  and  explains,  as  fully  as  any 
other,  these  two  important  points.|  When  asked,  also,  if 
the  divine  nature  was  so  united  to  the  human,  as  to  suffer 
with  it  on  the  cross,  he  replied  that  it  is  impossible  for  the 
divinity  to  suffer.  But  in  this,  though  his  church  would 
agree  with  his  explanation,  he  seemed  at  least  to  contradict 
her  formularies ;  for  Peter  the  Fuller's  famous  addition  to 
the  trisagion  is  still  retained  in  them,  and  had  been  men- 
tioned to  us  by  another  ecclesiastic,  as  one  of  the  points  of 
difference  between  the  Armenians  and  the  papists. 

Perhaps  you  need  to  be  told  what  the  trisagion  is. 
The  following  is  a  Latin  version  of  the  Greek  account  of  it. 
"  On  the  24th  of  September,  in  the  reign  of  Theodosius, 

*  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  2:  intro.  dissert.  Mosheim,  Eccl.  Hist.  vol. 
l:p.  438,  ed.  Murdock. 

t  Compare  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  3:  p.  607. 

X  Armeno-Turkish  Catechism,  p.  4,  ss.- 


THE    TRISAGION.  277 

(A.  D.  446,)  a  great  earthquake  happened,  such  as  is  not 
recorded  to  have  ever  occurred  before.  So  incessantly  did 
the  earth  continue  to  be  shaken,  that  all  the  people,  with 
the  emperor  and  the  patriarch,  went  out  of  the  city  to  a 
place  called  Campus.  While  the  emperor  Theodosius,  the 
patriarch  Proclus,  and  all  the  people,  were  there  imploring 
the  divine  aid  with  supplications  and  litanies,  suddenly  a 
little  boy  from  the  midst  of  the  crowd  was  caught  up  into 
the  air.  As  all  for  fear  cried  out  Kyrie  eleison  [Lord 
have  mercy],  the  boy  descended,  and  addressing  the  peo- 
ple with  a  loud  voice,  required  that  the  trisagion  should 
thus  be  sung ;  O  holy  God,  holy  strong,  and  holy  immortal, 
have  mercy  upon  us.  Having  thus  said,  he  gave  up  his 
soul  to  God,  and  the  earthquake  ceased."*  So  supernatu- 
ral and  so  effectual  a  prayer  soon  obtained  universal 
currency  in  the  church  ;  it  has  retained  a  place  until  the 
present  time  in  the  liturgies  of  several  sects,  and  is  still 
held  in  the  highest  veneration. 

An  addition  was  made  to  it  by  the  monophysite  Peter 
the  Fuller,  of  Antioch,  which  laid  him  open  to  the  charge 
of  holding  that  the  divinity  was  crucified ;  and,  being  adopt- 
ed by  the  Armenians,  has  caused  them  to  be  regarded  by 
other  sects  as  fosterers  of  that  heresy .t  It  occurs  several 
times  in  services  of  their  church  in  the  following  terms : 
"  Holy  God,  and  holy  strong,  and  holy  immortal,  who  wast 
crucified  for  us,  have  mercy  upon  us."  In  accordance 
with  this  expression,  the  vartabed  went  on  to  say,  notwith- 
standing his  previous  admission  that  God  cannot  suffer, 
that  the  divinity  and  the  humanity  of  Christ  were  elevated 
upon  the  cross  together,  and  both  descended  into  the  grave 
and  remained  there  with  the  body.  The  latter  assertion 
seemed  countenanced  by  the  clause  in  the  creed  already 
quoted,  which  says,  "His  body  was  placed  in  the  grave 

*  Summa  Conciliorum,  p.  388. 

t  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  2:  intro.  dissert. 


278  INCORRUPTIBILITY    OF    CHRIST'S    BODY. 

with  the  divinity  united."  To  our  surprise,  he  added  a 
declaration  which  seemed  to  go  the  whole  length  of  the  old 
Julianist  error  of  the  incorruptibility  of  the  body  of  our  Sa- 
vior ;*  saying,  that  had  it  remained  in  the  grave,  it  would 
never  have  decayed.  That  such  is  the  doctrine  of  his 
church,  he  attempted  to  show  by  arguing  that  unleavened 
bread  is  used  in  her  eucharist,  rather  as  a  symbol  that  no 
leaven  of  corruption  was  found  in  the  body  of  Christ,  than 
because  our  Savior  first  used  it  at  the  institution  of  the  or- 
dinance, that  being  a  mere  Jewish  custom ;  and  he  would 
fain  confirm  it  from  the  Bible  also,  by  quoting  the  expres- 
sion, "Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt 
thou  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption" 

To  complete  our  view  of  the  heresies  respecting  the  Trinity 
charged  upon  the  Armenians,  it  must  be  added,  that  though 
they  believe  in  the  eternal  generation  of  the  Son,  and  the 
eternal  procession  of  the  Spirit,  firmly  enough  to  satisfy  the 
warmest  admirers  of  the  fathers,!  they  adhere  to  the  favorite 
notion  of  the  Greeks,  in  opposition  to  the  Latins,  that  the 
Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  only. — In  this  single  case  of 
the  vartabed  only,  during  our  whole  journey,  were  these 
topics  introduced  by  any  with  whom  we  conversed,  unless 
in  answer  to  our  inquiries.  The  missionaries  at  Shoosha, 
also,  assured  us  that  they  have  rarely  been  advanced  in 
their  hearing,  and  have  in  no  way  interfered  with  or  hin- 
dered their  evangelical  efforts  among  the  Armenians.  Add 
to  these  facts  the  nature  of  the  subjects  themselves,  and  I 
am  persuaded  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  missionaries 
may  convert  the  whole  nation  to  'the truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,5 
without  feeling  themselves  once  called  upon  to  agitate  the 
questions,  which,  in  the  times  of  the  first  councils,  rent  the 
church  asunder. 

We  availed  ourselves  of  the  vartabed's  declaration,  that 

*  See  Assem.  Bib.  Orient,  vol.  2:  intro.  dissert,  and  p.  296. 
[   f  Armeno-Turkish  Catechism,  p.  4,  12, 


STATE  OF  THE  DEAD  BEFORE  CHRIST.       279 

the  deity  and  the  human  soul  of  Christ  remained  in  the 
grave  with  his  body,  to  ask  him  how  his  church  can  say  in 
her  creed,  that  Christ  preached  to  the  spirits  in  hades ; 
and  also  reminded  him  of  its  equal  inconsistency  with  the 
promise  in  Scripture,  that  the  penitent  thief  should  be  with 
Christ  in  paradise,  (which  we  know  from  2  Cor.  12 :  2,  4, 
is  in  the  third  heaven,)  on  the  day  of  his  crucifixion.  .  He 
seemed  willing  to  pass  over  the  notion  he  had  advanced, 
and  which,  so  far  as  related  to  the  human  soul  of  Christ, 
was  probably  simply  his  own ;  and  called  upon  us  to  recon- 
cile Scripture  with  the  creed,  by  explaining  how  Christ 
could  have  descended  into  hell,  if  he  likewise  ascended  to 
paradise.  Our  explanation  was  direct,  that  we  hold  to  no 
such  creed,  and  that  he  did  not  descend  into  hell  at  all. 
4  How  then,'  said  he,  '  could  he  save  the  souls  from 
thence  V  '  The  good  were  already  saved,'  we  replied ;  «  for 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  believe  that  such  men  as  Abra- 
ham, and  Jacob,  and  David  went  into  a  place  of  torment, 
so  long  as  the  Bible  does  not  affirm  it.  They  must  have 
gone  to  heaven  at  their  death,  while  only  the  wicked  were 
sent  to  hell,  where  they  deserved  to  be.'  He  argued  that 
neither  did  he  or  his  church  believe  the  righteous  to  have 
been  in  a  state  of  torment,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  a  state 
of  happiness,  as  is  represented  in  the  parable  of  the  rich 
man  and  Lazarus,  yet  still  not  in  heaven.  Such  an  admis- 
sion was  declared  to  him  to  be  equivalent  to  an  acknowl- 
edgment that  they  were  in  heaven,  as  heaven  is  rather  a 
state  than  a  place  of  happiness. 

He  hesitated  fully  to  allow  such  an  inference,  and  asked 
if  we  do  not  believe  that  they  deserved  punishment  for 
Adam's  sin.  We  told  him  plainly,  No :  but  that  all  men 
inherit  from  our  first  parents  such  a  nature,  that  not  a  man 
upon  earth  fails  of  becoming  an  actual  transgressor ;  so  that 
in  consequence  of  Adam's  fall,  all  men  sin  and  come  to  de- 
serve punishment  for  their  own  offences.     *  But  how,'  said 


280  Christ's  descent  into  hell. 

he,  '  could  sinful  men  be  saved  and  go  to  heaven,  when 
Christ  had  not  yet  died  ? '  '  Just  in  the  same  way/  we 
answered,  '  that  they  are  saved  since  his  death.  For  we 
most  firmly  believe  that  had  Christ  not  died,  no  man  could 
ever  have  been  saved.  But  that  event  was  so  fixed  in  the 
divine  plan,  as  to  be  as  much  an  atonement  for  sin  in  pros- 
pect as  in  retrospect ;  and  believers  were  formerly  pardoned 
for  the  sake  of  him  who  was  to  die,  just  as  they  are  now 
pardoned  for  the  sake  of  him  who  has  died.' 

A  word  or  two  from  other  sources,  added  to  the  varta- 
bed's  last  two  questions,  will  explain  sufficiently  the  Arme- 
nian view  of  the  old  doctrine  of  Christ's  descent  into  hell. 
The  idea  that  his  death  could  have  any  effect  before  it 
actually  happened,  is  apparently  lost  sight  of;  and,  Adam's 
sin  being  regarded  as  imputed  to  all  mankind  so  as  to  place 
them  under  the  dominion  of  Satan,  it  is  supposed  that  both 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked  were  at  their  death  thrust 
by  him  into  the  prison  of  hell.  Christ  by  his  death,  not 
only  so  abolished  original  sin  as  to  free  those  who  were 
not  yet  dead,  from  this  satanic  dominion ;  but  he  also 
descended  into  hell,  and  as  he  had  dwelt  upon  the  earth 
thirty-three  years,  saving  all  who  believed  on  him  here,  so 
he  preached  thirty-three  hours  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  and 
saved  all  who  believed  on  him  there.*  All  unbelievers 
were  left  still  in  prison,  or  rather  were  thrust  down  to  hell. 
For  I  ought  to  remark,  that  I  have  given  the  name  hell  to 
the  place  of  departed  spirits  before  Christ,  in  accommodation 
to  the  common  mode  of  speaking  among  the  Armenians, 
who  usually  call  it  gehen.  They  do  not  strictly  consider 
it  to  have  been  really  hell,  however,  but  a  place  specially 
fitted  up  for  this  supposed  imprisonment,  and  destroyed  by 
Christ  when  he  carried  the  redeemed  spirits  in  triumph  to 
heaven;  and  the  Greek  hades,  or  our  old  term  limbo, 
would   better   express   its   more    proper   Armenian   name 

*  Armeno-Turkish  Catechism,  p.  22,  76. 


HABITS  OF  THE  KURDS.  281 

tjokhh     You  will  perceive  that  neither  the  doctrine  nor  the 
place  has  any  connection  with  purgatory. 

April  18.  We  arose  at  2,  and  started  at  a  quarter  past 
4  A.  M.  The  road  recrossed  the  river  by  a  stone  bridge 
after  a  mile  or  two ;  and  we  continued  the  remainder  of 
the  day  along  its  northern  side,  generally  in  a  low  level 
near  it.  Wild  geese  and  several  species  of  ducks  started 
up  from  its  margin  at  almost  every  step.  Uneven  and 
woodless  grazing  lands  on  our  right  were  bounded  at  a  dis- 
tance by  a  range  of  mountains ;  on  the  left  was  a  similar 
tract  without  so  distinct  a  limit.  Patches  of  snow  were 
frequent  near  our  path  at  starting,  and  increased  in  num- 
ber and  size  as  we  advanced.  No  cultivation  at  all  appear- 
ed the  whole  day,  and  the  falling  walls  of  a  deserted  Ar- 
menian hamlet,  now  and  then,  explained  the  reason.  We 
saw  but  two  or  three  inhabited  villages,  and  their  occupants 
were  Kurds. 

Our  tartar,  yesterday  and  this  morning,  expressed  many 
fears  of  robbers  in  to-day's  side.  Get  through  this  in  safe- 
ty, he  said,  and  we  need  apprehend  nothing  more  this  side 
of  Erzroom.  And  he  would  even  insure  us  here,  for  the 
promise  of  a  pair  of  shalwar.  Such  intimations  from  one 
who  seemed,  from  his  manners  and  his  nation,  likely 
enough  to  be  in  league  with  all  the  robbers  in  the  country, 
might  seem  adapted  to  produce  some  apprehension.  The 
principal  feeling  actually  excited,  however,  was  vexation  at 
the  meanness  of  his  conduct.  Still  we  thought  best  not  to 
betray  it ;  and  merely  attempted  to  make  him  ashamed,  that 
he  a  tartar  should  be  so  cowardly,  where  he  saw  us  not 
afraid  ;  reminding  him,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  would  be 
soon  enough  to  solicit  a  present,  when  he  had  satisfactorily 
fulfilled  his  engagement. 

Seeing  no  signs  of  danger  as  we  advanced,  we  charged 
him  again  with  timidity.  He  attributed  the  absence  of 
wandering  Kurds,  either  to  accident,  or  to  the  season's  not 

vol.  ii.  25 


282 


PASTORAL    OBSERVATIONS. 


being  yet  sufficiently  advanced  :  but  said,  that  whenever, 
as  warm  weather  comes  on,  they  take  it  into  their  heads  to 
pasture  here,  every  hill  around  is  black  with  their  tents. 
He  doubtless  spoke  the  truth ;  and  I  would  add,  that  in 
general  the  country  of  the  Kurds  can  be  travelled  with 
comparative  safety  in  winter.  For  then  they  are  confined 
by  the  snow  to  villages  ;  and  having  a  habitation  and  a 
name,  the  perpetrators  of  crime  can  be  so  easily  detected 
that  the  power  of  law  is  felt.  But  when  scattered  over  the 
mountains  in  their  summer  tents,  they  can  commit  a  rob- 
bery and  a  murder  to-day,  and  to-morrow,  in  some  distant 
valley,  effectually  screen  themselves  from  the  search  of 
justice. 

Though  no  nomadic  tents  appeared,   we  passed  several 
shepherds,  probably  from  the  neighboring  villages,  carrying 
in  their  bosoms  the  lambs  of  the  flocks  they  tended.     The 
same  scene  had  already  frequently  interested  us,  by  pre- 
senting the  source  of  the  beautiful  imagery  of  the  prophet, 
"  He  shall  lead  his  flock  like  a  shepherd,  he  shall  gather  the 
lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom."     It  is 
exhibited  only  at  this  season  of  the  year ;  when  lambs  are  fre- 
quently brought  forth  during  the  day  at  a  distance  from  the 
fold.    The  new-comers  being  too  weak  to  follow  the  flock  in 
its  rovings  after  grass,  are  carried  in  the  bosom  of  the  shep- 
herd, and  not  unfrequently  they  multiply  so  as  to  fill  his 
arms  before  night.     They  are  then  taken  to  the  fold,  and 
guarded  there  until  sufficiently  strong  to  ramble  with  their 
dams.     One  of  these  inclosures,  when  the  sheep  return 
anxiously  bleating  in  the  evening  from  their  day's  pasture, 
and  scores  of  hungry  young  ones  are  conducted  by  shep- 
herds' boys  each  to  its  own  mother,  presents  an  amusing 
scene. 

Throughout  Armenia  neither  sheep  nor  larger  cattle, 
not  only  of  professed  shepherds,  but  of  the  common  villa- 
gers, both  Christians  and  moslems,  are  ever  pastured  with- 


PASTORAL    OBSERVATIONS.  283 

out  a  keeper  constantly  to  watch  them ;  and  invariably  are 
they  driven  home,  or  to  some  inclosure,  at  night.  The  ne- 
cessity of  such  precautions  arises  not  so  much  from  the  fact 
that  there  are  no  fences  in  the  country,  as  from  danger  of 
thieves  and  wild  beasts.  The  man  who  should  send  his 
cows  or  his  sheep  to  pasture  alone,  would  have  every  reason 
to  fear  their  being  stolen  before  night ;  and  to  allow  them 
to  sleep  out,  would  be  making  them  an  almost  sure  prey  to 
ravenous  animals. 

Several  beasts  of  prey  abound  in  Armenia,  including,  in 
some  parts,  hyenas ;  but  of  them  all  wolves  are  the  most 
common.  We  saw  but  five  live  ones  during  our  journey. 
They  were  all  in  company,  and  trotted  deliberately  away 
from  our  path  as  we  rose  a  hill  just  before  reaching  Nakh- 
chevan,  on  our  return  from  Erivan.  Another  dead  one 
was  exhibited  to  us  among  the  Nestorians.  He  had  burst 
into  a  sheepfold  with  such  fury,  as  to  wound  two  or  three 
dogs  which  attacked  him,  and  be  but  slightly  checked  by 
several  deep  thrusts  from  the  daggers  of  the  shepherds, 
until  one  at  last  let  out  his  bowels  and  despatched  him; 
while  in  the  meantime,  he  found  opportunity  to  feed  his 
hunger  upon  the  tails  of  several  sheep,  which,  consisting 
entirely  of  fat,  were  first  seized  as  the  sweetest  morsel. 
How  forcible,  when  contrasted  with  such  a  state  of  things, 
(as  it  probably  originally  was,)  is  the  language  of  the  proph- 
et; 'that  the  Lord  will  cause  evil  beasts  to  cease  out  of 
the  land,  and  his  flock  shall  dwell  safely  in  the  wilderness 
and  sleep  in  the  woods ! '  To  such  security  Western  Asia 
is  now,  and  perhaps  has  always  been,  an  entire  stranger ; 
but  in  our  favored  country  it  is  fully  enjoyed. 

The  immense  pastures  of  Armenia,  and  especially  of 
Kurdistan,  supply  nearly  all  the  great  markets  of  Turkey 
with  mutton ;  and  that  is  the  principal  animal  food  eaten 
by  the  inhabitants.  The  large  flocks  we  encountered  just 
after  leaving  Constantinople  have  been  already  mentioned. 


284  PASTORAL    OBSERVATIONS. 

Mr.  Jaubert  estimates  the  number  of  sheep  which  annually 
arrive  at  that  capital  from  Kurdistan  at  1,500,000,  and 
says  they  make  the  journey  in  not  less  than  seventeen  or 
eighteen  months.  The  sheep  which  are  slain  for  the 
markets  of  Aleppo  and  Damascus,  also,  and  even  of  Bey- 
root,  come  from  the  same  productive  pastures.  They  are 
all  of  the  fat-tail  species  ;  we  saw  no  other  until  we  de- 
scended the  mountains  toward  Trebizond.  Then  a  spe- 
cies resembling  the  common  one  of  our  own  country  was 
pointed  out  to  us  by  a  native  of  Tebriz  in  our  company, 
with  expressions  of  great  astonishment  at  their  slender  tails, 
a  sight  he  had  never  before  witnessed. 

The  pastoral  habits  of  the  people  of  these  regions  have 
led  to  the  multiplication  of  a  species  of  dogs  of  an  enor- 
mous size,  and  excessively  savage  in  appearance  and  dispo- 
sition. So  great  a  nuisance  and  so  dangerous  are  they  in 
every  village,  that  we  could  never  walk  out  in  safety,  with- 
out a  heavy  cudgel,  or  some  one  to  guard  us.  Failing  in 
one  instance,  between  here  and  Erzroom,  to  take  any  such 
precaution,  three  wolf-like  creatures  pitched  upon  me  while 
walking  over  the  houses  of  a  village,  and  threw  me  upon 
the  ground.  I  expected  nothing  less  than  to  be  severely 
mangled ;  but  the  moment  I  fell,  they  suddenly  dispersed, 
and  a  few  prints  of  their  teeth  in  my  clothes  was  the  only 
harm  I  experienced. 

We  reached  the  Kor-chai,  a  tributary  of  the  Murad,  at 
half  past  1  P.  M.  Though  its  course  from  the  mountains 
on  the  right  can  be  but  short,  it  was  so  swollen  by  the 
melting  snows  as  to  be  forded  with  difficulty,  and  detained 
us  nearly  two  hours  in  crossing  it.  A  mile  or  two  from  the 
river,  we  reached  Kara-keleeseh,  8  hours  from  Uch-keleeseh, 
and  stopped  for  the  night.  It  was  a  miserable  hamlet  of 
Persians,  (sheey  moslems,)  who  had  fled  from  Erivan  upon 
the  capture  of  that  place  by  the  Russians.  Among  them 
was  one  Armenian,   and,  at  the  suggestion  of  our  tartar, 


KARA-KELEESEH.  285 

who,  with  the  vartabeds  at  Uch-keleeseh,  had  recommend- 
ed his  house  for  its  cleanliness,  we  sought  for  lodgings  with 
him.  The  only  place  he  could  give  us  was  a  little  stable, 
which  also  accommodated  our  horses.  Our  corner  was 
hardly  large  enough  for  two  to  stretch  themselves  upon  the 
ground ;  the  terrace  was  broken  in  above  it ;  and  the  house 
could  furnish  neither  carpet,  felt,  nor  hay  to  sleep  upon. 
"We  could  even  procure  little  else  to  eat  than  a  scanty  por- 
tion of  the  coarsest  black  bread,  and  every  thing  bore 
marks  of  extreme  filth.  Our  tartar,  still  adhering  to  his 
previous  recommendation  of  the  house,  obstinately  refused 
to  seek  quarters  for  us  among  the  Persians ;  and  it  now 
first  occurred  to  us,  that  the  cleanliness  for  which  he  had 
extolled  the  Armenian,  was  merely  ceremonial !  The  sun- 
ny, excluded  from  the  house  and  hospitality  of  the  sheey 
for  his  own  alleged  ceremonial  impurity,  retorts  the  charge, 
and  gives  the  Christian  the  preference  to  his  heretical  Mo- 
hammedan brother. 

Not  only  were  we  scantily  furnished  with  provisions,  but 
our  horses  also  suffered.  The  whole  village  could  hardly 
furnish  a  peck  of  straw.  Indeed,  so  much  had  cultivation 
been  neglected  the  preceding  year,  in  consequence  of  the 
presence  of  the  Russians,  that  we  found  a  scarcity  ap- 
proaching absolute  famine,  all  the  way  from  Bayezeed  to 
Erzroom.  With  the  greatest  difficulty  could  we  obtain 
food  and  provender  for  our  small  company ;  and  the  large 
caravan  with  which  we  thought  of  coming,  and  which  we 
had  passed  near  Khoy,  was  doubtless  obliged  to  linger  on 
the  road  until  the  grass  had  time  to  grow.  The  goodness 
of  Providence  in  preventing  our  joining  it  was  now  visible. 


TOL.  II.  25 


LETTER  XXIII. 

FROM      KARA-KELEESEH      TO      ERZROOM. 

District  of  Alashgerd — Hospitality  at  Mollah  Soleiman— Papal  Armenians 
— Causes  of  the  similarity  between  the  papal  and  Armenian  churches — 
Difficult  and  tempestuous  passage  of  a  mountain — Treatment  by  the  Kurds 
at  Dahar — Descent  of  the  mountain — Civility  of  the  Armenians  at  Ko- 
matsor — Reach  Erzroom — Present  state  of  the  city — Visit  to  the  mosks — 
Ineligible  location  for  a  mission. 

Dear  Sir, 

After  much  difficulty  in  settling  with  our  host,  who 
charged  as  high  for  our  entertainment  as  if  the  recommen- 
dation we  had  had  of  his  house  had  been  correct,  we  left 
Kara-keleeseh  at  half  past  5  A.  M.  on  the  19th  of  April, 
the  day  after  my  last  date.  The  Murad-chai  here  turns  to 
the  left  toward  Melazgerd,  (the  ancient  Manavazagerd,) 
and  finds  its  way,  by  a  pass  imperceptible  at  this  distance, 
through  a  mass  of  mountains  now  entirely  white  with 
snow.  Inclining  more  to  the  right,  we  crossed  in  imme- 
diate succession  some  half  a  dozen  tributary  streams,  so 
swollen  by  the  melting  snow  as  to  threaten  ourselves  and 
our  baggage  with  serious  accidents.  We  passed  them, 
however,  successfully.  Beyond,  a  somewhat  more  elevated 
though  level  tract  extended  to  the  mountain,  which  had 
thus  far  been  on  our  right,  but  now  turned  southward  and 
crossed  our  line  of  march.  It  is  part  of  a  continuous 
range,  which,  extending  from  mount  Ararat  in  a  circuitous 
course  toward  the  junction  of  the  two  branches  of  the 
Euphrates,  separates  the  valley  of  the  Aras  from  that  of 
the  Murad-chai.     The  plain  was  covered  throughout  with 


DISTRICT    OF   ALASHGERD.  287 

snow,  from  one  to  two  feet  or  more  in  depth,  and  in  a 
melting  state ;  the  road  was  only  a  narrow  foot-path  worn 
through  it  to  the  ground ;  and  our  horses,  too  fatigued  by 
sinking  at  every  step  into  the  soft  mud  at  the  bottom  to 
walk  straight,  repeatedly  staggered  and  fell. 

According  to  the  vartabed  at  Uch-keleeseh,  whose  con- 
versations have  been  reported,  we  had  entered  Pakrevantr 
a  canton  of  the  ancient  province  of  Ararad,  at  Diadeen, 
and  were  now  in  that  of  Vagharshagerd.  The  ancient 
town  of  that  name  is  still  called  by  the  Armenians,  and 
sometimes  also  by  the  moslems,  Alashgerd,  though  its 
more  common  appellation  is  Toprak-kulaah.*  It  is  the 
capital  of  the  district,  and  is  considered  almost  impregna- 
ble. We  left  it  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  an  hour  or 
two  to  the  right ;  and  took  a  nearer  route  directly  toward 
the  Koseh-dagh,  a  conical  peak  not  unlike  mount  Ararat 
in  shape,  which  rises  to  a  lofty  height  from  the  topmost 
ridge  of  the  same  mountains,  and  is  visible  at  a  great  dis- 
tance. After  passing  four  or  five  Kurdish  villages,  still  in 
close  winter-quarters,  we  reached  Mollah  Soleiman,  at  the 
farther  extremity  of  the  plain,  and  stopped  for  the  night. 

Fatigued  with  the  exertions  of  the  day,  dirty  from  the 
filth  of  our  recent  lodgings,  and  chilled  with  the  keen  air 
from  the  snows  around  us,  we  arrived  dispirited  and  in  ill 
humor  with  the  inhospitableness  of  the  country,  the  people, 
and  the  climate.  A  kind  reception  in  such  circumstances 
was  doubly  grateful.  Mr.  Dwight  had  preceded  us  to 
look  for  lodgings ;  and  when  I  came  up,  two  old  ladies, 
with  hospitality  expressed  in  their  countenances,  were 
taking  his  travelling  accoutrements  from  his  horse.  Him  I 
found  snugly  seated  in  the  corner  of  a  large  stable  well 
spread  with  carpets  and  matresses.  The  same  kind  matrons 
soon  relieved  me  of  my  heavy  outside  garments,  and  seem- 
ed as  anxiously  to  study  our  comfort  as  if  we  had  been  their 

*St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  124. 


288  MOLLAH    SOLEIMAN. 

own  sons.  We  shall  long  remember  the  hospitality  of 
Mollah  Soleiman,  so  far  superior  was  it  to  any  we  had  ex- 
perienced elsewhere  during  our  whole  journey.  Nor  shall 
we  soon  forget  our  lodgings.  We  were  the  companions  of 
some  forty  or  fifty  cattle,  in  an  under-ground  stable  ventila- 
ted by  only  a  hole  in  our  corner  little  larger  than  a  man's 
hand.  By  the  breath  of  its  inmates,  its  temperature  was 
raised  almost  to  that  of  a  vapor  bath ;  so  that  the  frosty 
external  air  that  rushed  in  near  us,  immediately  precipitated 
a  vapor  resembling  rain,  and  we  were  drenched  in  perspi- 
ration the  whole  night. 

The  village  consisted  of  about  25  papal  Armenian  fam- 
ilies, of  whom  our  host  was  the  priest.  How  long  they  had 
been  papists  we  could  not  learn,  any  farther  than  that  his 
father  was  a  papal  priest  before  him,  and  that  his  grand- 
father visited  Rome.  Their  papacy  probably  dates  back 
to  the  time  of  the  Jesuit  mission  at  Erzroom,  which,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  had  a  station  at  Bayezeed.  He  manifest- 
ed no  prejudices  against  us  as  protestants,  and  even  seem- 
ed to  consider  us,  from  the  mere  fact  that  we  were  Franks, 
more  like  himself  than  his  neighbors.  An  Armenian  New 
Testament,  which  we  gave  him,  was  an  acceptable  present, 
and  he  thankfully  received  a  Shoosha  tract  for  his  son. 
For,  like  the  Armenian  priests,  he  was  married ;  and  he 
informed  us,  also,  that  in  the  time  of  their  fasts  and  festi- 
vals, his  flock,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  observe  the  Armenian 
calendar,  though  they  are  allowed  to  eat  fish  in  lent. 

We  conversed  with  him,  at  some  length,  respecting  the 
present  state  of  his  sect  in  these  parts,  and  some  of  his 
statements  are  worth  reporting.  In  the  town  of  Moosh, 
and  in  the  neighboring  villages  of  Norshen,  Arinj  and 
Oghunk,  the  papal  Armenians  amount,  he  assured  us,  to  150 
families,  and  have  one  priest.  The  district  of  Alashgerd 
contains,  besides  those  of  his  own  village,  25  families  in 
another  named  Khastor,  and  10  in  a  third  named  Iritsoo- 


PAPAL    ARMENIANS.  289 

kegh.  Khanoos  formerly  contained  one  village,  and  in 
Pasin  there  were  some,  both  at  Hassan-kulaah  and  Mejen- 
gerd ;  but  they  all  retired  with  the  Russian  army  to  the 
Georgian  provinces,  and  now  there  only  remain  in  Pasin, 
15  families  at  Khorasan,  12  at  Aljakrak  and  10  at  Bash- 
kegh  [Bash-koy].  Add  to  these  the  few  that  have  assem- 
bled at  Erzroom  since  its  former  papal  Armenians  left  with 
the  Russians,  and  you  have  a  list  of  all  the  adherents  of 
that  sect  in  this  part  of  Turkish  Armenia,  of  whose  exist- 
ence he  was  aware,  and  of  whom  we  were  able  to  hear 
from  other  sources. 

They  were  formerly  wTell  supplied  with  priests;  but 
when  the  papal  Armenians  were  driven  from  Constantino- 
ple, all,  to  the  number  of  nearly  50  he  thought,  were 
sought  out  and  banished.  So  that  now,  with  the  exception 
of  himself  and  another  in  Moosh,  there  is  not  to  be  found  a 
papal  priest  of  any  kind  out  of  Erzroom.  No  ecclesiastics 
of  European  birth  or  education  nearer  than  Khosrova  and 
Constantinople  were  known  to  him,  nor  could  we  hear  of 
any  bishop  of  his  sect  nearer  than  the  latter  city.  He 
escaped  the  persecution  himself  by  temporarily  abscond- 
ing, and  is  now  left  with  the  care  of  three  villages,  in 
which  he  officiates  alternately.  Neither  of  them  has  any 
school.  The  privileges  recently  granted  to  his  sect  in 
Turkey,  gave  him  no  little  pleasure ;  and  he  related  with 
much  satisfaction,  an  attempt  he  had  just  made  to  retaliate 
upon  the  Armenians  for  their  intolerance.  Three  or  four 
families  of  them  remain  in  his  village;  and  he  had  petitioned 
the  pasha  of'  Bayezeed  when  he  passed  by  a  day  or  two 
before,  to  compel  them  to  become  papists  or  to  leave  the 
village,  pretending  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  two  sects 
to  live  together.  The  Kurdish  chief  seems  to  have  had  a 
better  sense  of  justice  than  the  Christian  priest,  for  he 
gave  him  no  encouragement. — Nearly  all  the  Armenians 
of  this  vicinity  left  with  the  Russians  ;  and  our  host  affirm- 


290        IMPERFECT    CONVERSION    OF    THE    ARMENIANS. 

ed,  that  they  were  urged  and  almost  forced  into  the  meas- 
ure. His  own  flock  went  as  far  as  Toprak-kulaah.  While 
they  were  absent,  the  moslems  burnt  their  church. 

You  have  only  to  add  the  papal  Armenian  congrega- 
tions at'Tiflis,  Gori,  and  Kotais,  and  a  small  number  at 
Akhaltsikhe  to  those  above  enumerated,  to  complete  the 
list  of  the  few  professed  papists  that  we  heard  of  among  the 
Armenians  to  the  east  of  Tokat  and  Trebizond.  But  how 
far  are  the  Armenians  themselves  from  papacy  ?  That  their 
church  partakes  largely  of  the  spirit  and  doctrines  of  the 
Romish  religion,  and  in  most  of  its  leading  corruptions  as 
well  as  in  many  minute  ceremonies  does  not  essentially  differ 
from  it,  you  cannot  have  failed  to  perceive  in  the  course  of 
our  narrative.  And  the  interesting  question  may  have  sug- 
gested itself — from  whence  came  such  numerous  resem- 
blances between  churches  so  long  separated  ?  The  an- 
swer, I  apprehend,  is  neither  difficult  nor  unsatisfactory. 

The  slightest  acquaintance  with  ecclesiastical  history 
may  convince  one,  that,  before  the  commencement  of  the 
fourth  century,  Christianity  had  extensively  degenerated 
from  its  original  purity  as  a  religion  of  the  heart,  into  a 
mere  profession  of  theoretical  dogmas  and  the  observance 
of  external  rites.  Such,  it  is  natural  to  suspect,  was  the 
form  of  it  to  which  the  Armenians  were  at  that  period  con- 
verted, and  the  circumstances  of  the  event,  if  national  tra- 
dition has  correctly  preserved  them,  confirm  the  suspicion 
that  they  have  from  the  beginning  known  extremely  little 
of  the  true  conversion  of  the  heart.  We  are  told  that  im- 
mediately upon  king  Durtad's  embracing  the  faith,  the  na- 
tion followed  his  example  in  a  body,  and  were  baptized.  To 
say  nothing  of  the  doubtfulness  of  all  national  conversions, 
the  very  hastiness  of  this  proceeding,  by  allowing  no  time 
for  competent  instruction,  shows  that  the  Armenians  could 
not  have  been  enlightened  converts ;  the  fact  that  the  Scrip- 
tures were  not  translated  into  their  language  until  a  century 


INTRODUCTION    OP    SUPERSTITIONS.  291 

afterward,  is  an  additional  indication  of  the  scantiness  of 
their  religious  knowledge ;  and  the  confessed  backsliding 
of  many  of  the  nobility  into  the  most  scandalous  immorali- 
ties and  the  blackest  crimes,  even  during  the  lifetime  of 
Durtad,  proves  how  superficial  was  their  conversion.* 

Thus  the  Armenian  church  was  a  soil  well  adapted  to 
the  rapid  growth  of  all  the  corruptions,  which  from  that 
time  sprang  up,  in  such  speedy  succession,  in  different 
parts  of  the  Christian  world.  Even  those  which  then  ex- 
isted were,  it  would  seem,  not  sparingly  introduced  by  St. 
Gregory.  For,  by  the  immediate  consecration  of  four 
hundred  bishops  and  a  countless  number  of  priests,  he 
betrayed  a  disposition  to  multiply  an  idle  and  unqualified 
priesthood ;  and  by  the  construction  of  convents  and  nun- 
neries, and  spending  the  last  of  his  days  in  a  solitary  cave, 
he  showed  that  he  was  ready  to  foster  the  monastic  spirit 
of  his  age.f  So  deeply  indeed  was  the  taste  for  monk- 
hood implanted,  that  his  fifth  successor  is  said  to  have 
built  two  thousand  convents.^ 

Of  the  rites  and  dogmas  subsequently  adopted  by  other 
bodies  of  Christians,  there  was  a  free  importation,  for  the 
two  centuries  that  the  Armenians  formed  a  regular  branch 
of  the  general  church.  A  special  messenger  was  sent  to 
Jerusalem  for  the  ceremonies  observed  in  that  church,  and 
brought  thence  eight  canons  regulating  the  sacraments  and 
other  rites.  For  a  similar  object,  a  correspondence  was 
carried  on  with  the  bishop  of  Nisibis.§  One  Catholicos, 
who  had  been  educated  at  Constantinople  in  the  influence 
of  all  the  secular  ideas  and  regulations  introduced  into  the 

*  Mos.  Chor.  Lib.  2:  c.  89.  St.  Mart.  vol.  1:  p.  11.  Chamchean, 
P.  3:  c.  15. 

f  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  15. 

J  Avdall's  translation  of  Chamchean,  vol.  1:  p.  182.  See  also  Mos.  Chor 
Lib.  2:  p.  88. 

§  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  15. 


292  INTERCOURSE    WITH    THE    GREEKS. 

church  under  the  patronage  of  Constantine  and  his  suc- 
cessors, brought  from  thence  '  various  observances,  which, 
like  precious  stones,  he  inlaid  into  the  old.'*  And  several 
who  followed  him  distinguished  themselves  by  their  im- 
provements in  the  services  and  laws  of  the  church. f  So 
that  when,  by  rejecting  the  council  of  Chalcedon  in  A.  D. 
491,  the  Armenians  cut  themselves  off  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  great  body  of  Christians,  they  were  doubt- 
less in  possession  of  all  the  legendary  dogmas  and  obser- 
vances which  had  then  been  adopted  by  the  Christian 
world. 

The  infection  of  monophysitism  suspended  indeed  this 
freedom  of  intercourse  between  the  Armenians  and  their 
Christian  brethren,  and  the  arrogant  efforts  of  the  Greeks, 
while  their  empire  lasted,  to  effect  a  reconciliation,  served 
to  widen  the  breach,  and  attach  them  more  obstinately  to 
some  peculiar  doctrines  and  practices.  But  the  specifica- 
tion of  their  refusal  to  acknowledge  the  council  of  Chal- 
cedon, to  put  water  in  the  wine  and  leaven  in  the  bread  of 
the  eucharist,  to  celebrate  the  nativity  of  Christ  on  the  25th 
of  December,  to  eat  fish,  oil,  wine,  eggs,  or  butter  in  their 
fasts,  and  to  commune  on  Holy  Thursday,  as  the  points  at 
issue,!  shows  that  in  other  respects,  they  either  did  not  dif- 
fer from  their  Greek  neighbors,  or  were  willing  to  conform 
to  them.  Nor  can  it  be  considered  improbable,  that  every 
one  of  the  temporary  reconciliations  that  repeatedly  occur- 
red, left  behind  it,  amidst  an  accumulation  of  irritated 
feeling,  some  new  item  of  conformity  to  the  Greek  church, 
especially  as  more  than  one  of  the  Armenian  Catholicoses 
decidedly  favored  the  contemplated  union.  The  last  of 
these  was  Nerses  Shnorhali,  to  this  day  one  of  the  highest 
authorities  in  the  church ;  who,  by  exerting  all  his  great 
influence  for  this  object,  laid  matters  in  such  a  train,  that 

*  Chamchean,  P.  3:  c.  18.         t  Ibid.  P.  3:  c.  25,  P.  4:  c.  1,  4. 
t  Ibid.  P.  4:  c.  18. 


INTERCOURSE  WITH    PAPISTS.  293 

after  his  death  (A.  D.  1173)  it  was  temporarily  effected 
with  the  general  consent  of  the  nation.*  The  Greek  em- 
perors, too,  instead  of  always  driving,  sometimes  allured  to 
a  union,  and  their  allurements,  such  as  a  present  of  a  piece 
of  the  true  cross,  bits  of  the  crown  of  thorns,  the  sponge 
and  the  nails  used  at  the  crucifixion,  and  remnants  of  the 
Savior's  swaddling  clothes,  and  of  his  mother's  apron,  were 
means  of  corruption.f  The  Armenians  had,  indeed,  cen- 
turies before,  begun  to  venerate  relics  ;f  but  such  imperial 
gifts  doubtless  strengthened  the  superstition. 

The  intercourse  of  the  Armenians  with  the  Romish 
church  commenced  at  the  period  of  the  Crusades.  It  was, 
from  the  beginning,  of  a  more  friendly,  and  therefore  of  a 
more  corrupting  character  than  that  with  the  Greeks  ;  and 
there  are  doubtless  good  grounds  for  La  Croze's  suggestion, 
that  very  many  of  the  peculiar  resemblances  between  the 
Armenian  and  the  papal  churches,  sprung  from  Romish 
influence  and  intrigues  in  the  Armenian  kingdom  of  Cilicia 
during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.§  The  ac- 
quaintance was  introduced  by  a  personal  visit  of  the  first 
Catholicos,  who  resided  in  Cilicia,  to  Rome,  in  A.  D.  1075. 
The  third  from  him,  after  holding  two  consultations  upon 
the  most  friendly  terms  with  a  papal  nuncio  at  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem,  received  a  staff  of  office  from  the  pope  ;||  and 
all  his  successors,  who  to  the  sixth  generation  were  of  the 
same  family,  continued  the  acquaintance,  until  in  A.  D. 
1197  a  formal  union  was  concluded  between  the  two 
churches. 

The  object  of  that  measure  was  to  obtain  the  concur- 
rence of  the  pope  in  the  coronation  of  Leo  the  Armenian 
king ;  it  was  acceded  to  by  the  Catholicos,  and  twelve  bish- 

*  Chamchean,P.  6:  c.  7.  f  Ibid.  P.  5:  c.  1,  7. 

X  Ibid.  P.  4:  c.  12,  17.  §  Histoire  du  Christian  isme  d'Armeoie. 

)|  Chamchean,  P.  5:  c.  17.  P.  6:  c.  4. 
vol.  ii.  26 


294  INTERCOURSE  WITH    PAPISTS. 

ops  swore  to  abide  by  it.  The  same  Leo  within  a  few 
years  indeed  quarrelled  with  the  Latins,  and  drove  them 
all,  clergy  and  laity,  from  his  dominions.  But  by  marrying 
a  daughter  of  the  king  of  Cyprus,  he  led  the  way  to  inter- 
marriages with  Europeans,  and  introduced  papacy  perma- 
nently into  the  reigning  family.  In  consequence  of  which 
his  successors  were  ever  firm  partisans  of  the  Romish 
ehurch,  and  some  exerted  their  influence,  even  to  perse- 
cution, to  induce  their  subjects  to  conform  in  all  things  to 
its  rites  and  doctrines.  In  these  circumstances,  it  is  ex- 
pressly recorded  that  extreme  unction  was  successfully  in- 
troduced in  A.  D.  1243 ;  and  doubtless  a  multitude  of  in- 
novations accompanied  it.* 

I  need  not  review  the  intercourse  of  the  Armenians  and 
the  papists  since  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Cilicia. 
Merely  add  to  the  preceding  statements,  the  fact  that  it  has 
been  continued  by  means  of  papal  missionaries  down  to  the 
present  time,  with  so  much  success,  if  we  may  believe  their 
reports,  that  not  a  small  number  of  Catholicoses  have  sent 
in  their  submission  to  the  pope  ;  and  you  will  have  a  satis- 
factory account  of  the  origin  of  the  resemblances  that  exist 
between  the  two  churches. 

April  20.  The  sudorific  effects  of  our  vapor  bath  last 
night,  made  the  pure  mountain  air  doubly  inspiriting,  as 
we  mounted  our  horses  at  5  o'clock  this  morning.  Our 
exhilarated  spirits,  however,  were  soon  damped  by  the 
prospects  of  the  day.  We  had  before  us  a  ride  of  six  hours 
over  the  mountain  mentioned  yesterday.  It  was  the  high- 
est we  crossed  in  any  part  of  our  journey,  and  rose  up 
against  the  horizon  like  an  immense  barrier  of  eternal 
snow.  A  caravan  at  Mollah  Soleiman  had  informed  us, 
that  the  difficulty  of  the  passage  had  obliged  them  to  sleep 
several  nights  upon  its  summit ;  and  our  repeated  inquiries 
of  those  we  now  passed,  were  answered  by  some  that  it  was, 

*  Chamchean,  P.  6:  c.  10, 11,  12,  15. 


DIFFICULT   PASSAGE    OF  A   MOUNTAIN.  295 

and  by  others  that  it  was  not  practicable.  The  mud  at  the 
bottom  of  our  narrow  foot-path,  soon  gave  place  to  snow 
still  deeper  and  softer,  and  of  course  more  fatiguing  to  our 
animals ;  and  a  storm  of  rain  and  melting  snow  continually 
increased  the  difficulty. 

So  gradual  was  the  rise  at  first,  however,  that  no  serious 
impediment  detained  us,  till  we  had  advanced  far  beyond 
the  last  village.  Then,  at  the  first  steep  ascent,  our  bag- 
gage horses,  and  the  one  that  I  rode,  failed  through  weak- 
ness, and  fell.  The  whole  mountain  before  us  consisted  of 
ridges  and  valleys  and  abrupt  declivities,  made  doubly  diffi- 
cult by  the  depth  of  the  melting  snow  ;  and  in  some  places, 
immense  drifts  having  during  the  winter  transformed  val- 
leys into  plains,  the  caravans  had  neglected  the  old  and 
struck  out  new  paths,  and  the  only  beaten  track  conducted 
us  across  filled-up  abysses  of  unknown  depth.  In  such  a 
road,  few  rods  were  passed  without  some  of  our  miserable 
beasts  sinking  beyond  their  power  of  recovery.  As  often 
as  one  fell,  he  was  unladen,  raised  and  laden  again  ;  my 
own  I  led  up  every  ascent,  and  even  thus  could  with  difficul- 
ty get  him  forward.  Once  he  sunk  into  a  hole  so  deep 
that  the  narrowness  of  the  path  alone  arrested  his  body,  and 
perhaps  prevented  him  from  entirely  disappearing  ;  for  there 
was  apparently  a  small  lake  under  the  snow,  and  his  feet 
rested  upon  nothing.  Had  he  had  strength,  in  such  a  position 
it  would  have  been  useless  ;  his  owner,  our  muleteer,  seemed 
as  helpless  as  he,  and  stood  aghast,  crying,  wed  !  wai !  ojagh- 
um  batdy  !  (literally)  alas !  alas!  my  hearth  is  sunk  !  An- 
tonio was  thrown  into  contortions  of  despair  by  getting 
his  feet  wet ;  and  altogether,  serious  as  our  situation  really 
was,  our  party  presented,  for  a  moment,  a  comic  scene. 
We  at  length  drew  the  poor  animal  out  by  his  halter,  with- 
out any  more  effort  on  his  part  than  if  he  had  been  dead. 

Difficulties  increased   as  we  advanced.      Our  baggage 
horses  fell,  and  had  to  be  unloaded  and  loaded   again  at  al- 


296  DIFFICULT    PASSAGE    OF  A    MOUNTAIN. 

most  every  step.  The  storm,  becoming  a  tempest,  wetted 
and  chilled  us.  Our  worthless  tartar  disappeared  to  seek 
his  own  comfort  in  the  nearest  village,  and  left  us  to  find 
the  way  over  the  mountains  as  best  we  could.  An  old 
Kurd,  who  had  joined  our  party  in  the  morning,  and  re- 
mained to  help  us  as  long  as  he  dare,  now  hastened  away 
to  seek  shelter  in  some  inhabited  spot  for  the  night.  He 
promised  indeed  to  send  us  assistance  from  the  nearest  vil- 
lage ;  but  how  far  it  was  we  knew  not,  nor  whether  he 
would  think  of  us  again.  The  day  was  evidently  drawing 
to  a  close  ;  and  the  prospect  began  to  stare  us  in  the  face, 
of  passing  a  tempestuous  night  on  the  mountains,  without 
food  or  shelter,  and  with  the  snow  for  our  bed.  As  a  last 
expedient,  the  bags  that  contained  our  most  valuable  arti- 
cles, were  put  upon  our  own  beasts,  and  we  led  them  for- 
ward to  find  a  village  if  possible,  and  send  assistance  to  the 
muleteer  and  servant,  who  remained  with  the  other  animals 
and  the  rest  of  our  effects.  We  had  not  yet  reached  the 
highest  part  of  the  mountain ;  the  road  we  were  unac- 
quainted with,  and  it  was  beginning  to  be  hidden  by  the 
newly  fallen  snow ;  the  wind  had  acquired  almost  the  vio- 
lence of  a  hurricane,  and  drove  the  damp  snow  and  sleet 
against  us  with  such  impetuosity  as  thoroughly  to  drench 
our  clothes ;  their  weight,  as  our  jaded  horses  obliged  us  to 
walk  almost  every  step,  impeded  our  progress ;  and  all  our 
remaining  strength  was  repeatedly  called  for  to  reload  the 
bags,  which  were  repeatedly  thrown  off  in  our  struggles  to 
master  the  snow-drifts.  As  this  accident  happened  once  in 
an  exposed  situation,  a  dense  dark  cloud  enveloped  us,  and 
a  blast  so  piercing  accompanied  it  that  it  seemed  to  pene- 
trate to  the  heart.  An  indescribable  sensation  of  horror 
came  over  me,  and  my  companion  was  completely  bewil- 
dered. 

The  clouds  at  length  broke  away  for  a  moment,  as  we 
reached  a  lofty  summit,  and  showed  us  that  we  were  at  the 


TREATMENT  BY  THE  KURDS  AT  DAHAR.      297 

top.  Far  down  an  unbroken  and  steep  descent  appeared 
the  dark  sides  of  naked  hills,  stripped  of  their  wintry  cover- 
ing by  a  southern  exposure  to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  We 
dragged  our  horses,  with  all  the  speed  that  our  strength 
and  weight  could  give  us,  to  the  bottom ;  and  then  stum- 
bling as  we  could,  over  snow-drifts  and  through  mud,  were 
at  last  cheered  by  a  view  of  human  habitations.  Just  then 
a  single  horseman,  sent  (whether  by  the  old  Kurd  or  by  our 
tartar  at  this  late  hour,  we  never  learned,)  to  bring  up  our 
party,  met  us.  No  remonstrances,  however,  would  induce 
him  to  go  on  to  the  succor  of  those  we  had  left  behind, 
and  he  returned  with  us.  The  village  we  had  found  was 
inhabited  by  Kurds  and  called  Dahar:  we  entered  it  at  sun- 
set, having  spent  thirteen  hours  in  riding  six. 

Our  tartar  we  found  seated  by  a  fire  in  a  spacious  stable, 
comfortably  smoking  his  pipe  with  the  aga  of  the  village. 
His  first  words,  instead  of  expressing  sympathy  for  us,  or 
care  for  those  who  were  still  on  the  mountain,  were  a  bit- 
ter complaint  of  his  own  hardship,  in  having  had  his  clothes 
wet  through  in  one  or  two  spots  on  his  shoulders !  Had 
we  yielded  to  the  feelings  of  the  moment,  we  could  have 
given  him  a  sound  flagellation  with  an  instrument  more  ef- 
ficient than  the  tongue ;  but  a  word  from  the  aga  bespeak- 
ing our  sympathy  for  the  tartar,  convinced  us  that  there 
was  an  understanding  between  them,  and  that,  would  we 
obtain  any  favors,  we  must  keep  in  the  good  graces  of 
both.  Nor  were  we  left  to  infer  that  the  favors  we  needed 
could  be  obtained  by  merely  bridling  our  tongues.  For  the 
old  aga,  beginning  immediately  to  tell  what  an  asylum 
was  his  village,  created  here  by  God  on  purpose  for  the  be- 
nighted traveller,  and  how  he,  a  favorite  servant  of  the  pa- 
sha, was  stationed  in  it  specially  to  save  all  who  are  expos- 
ed to  perish  on  the  mountains,  added,  that  it  was  under- 
stood, of  course,  that  such  services  were  rendered  for  money! 
Making  a  virtue  of  necessity,  therefore,  we  held  our  peace, 

vol.  ii.  26  * 


298      TREATMENT  BY  THE  KURDS  AT  DAHAR. 

and  engaged  him  to  send  out  four  men  on  foot,  all  Kurds 
like  himself,  to  bring  up  what  we  had  left,  promising  them 
such  a  reward  as  he  suggested,  when  their  work  was  done. 
About  9  o'clock  our  muleteer  and  servant  arrived  in  a 
tremendous  shower,  having  forsaken  the  baggage  and  one 
horse  near  where  we  had  left  them.     The  servant,  an  Ar- 
menian who  had  hardly  been  out  of  Tebriz  in  his  life  be- 
fore he  entered  our  employ,  being  thoroughly   drenched 
with  the  rain,  completely  exhausted  by  fatigue,  and  stiffened 
with  cold,  fell  helpless  upon  the  ground  as  he  entered.     To 
our  repeated  inquiry,  what  he  would  have,   his  only  reply 
was,  sahib  dldiun !  oldum  sahib !  master    I  am    dead !    I 
am  dead  master!  Our  unfeeling  host,  as  if  interpreting  his 
wishes,  tauntingly  cried,  '  he  wants  a  priest ! '  (meaning,  to 
give    him  the  viaticum  before  he    should  die.)     No   one 
would  raise  a  finger  to  his  aid,  and  we  begged  in  vain  for 
the  least  article  of  dry  clothing,  for  food,  and  even  for  a  fire, 
to  revive  him.     The  old  Kurd  only  laughed    at  our  solici- 
tude, as  if  the  life  of  a  Christian  dog  was  not  worth  saving ; 
and  at  the  same  moment  took  off  his  own  shalwar  for  the 
muleteer,  a  Kurd  as  hardy  as  the   beasts  he  drove,  saying 
complacently  to  the  tartar,  that  for  the  act  God  would  reck- 
on him  worthy  of  a  reward!  He  soon  went  off  to  bed,  refu- 
sing to  give  us  even  a  bit  of  bread  for  the  sufferer ;   and  a 
hard  morsel,  contributed  by  a  more  compassionate  camel- 
driver  who  lodged  with  us,  was  the  only  nutriment  we  could 
procure  him.     A  servant  of  the  house  tardily  consented  for 
a  reward  to  break  off  a  few  sticks   from  the  terrace  for  a 
fire  ;  and  our  own  cloaks,  which  were  not  quite  so  wet  as 
his,  contributed  to  revive  him. 

About  11  o'clock  at  night,  the  men  whom  we  had  sent 
for  our  baggage  returned  without  it,  declaring  that  so  vio- 
lent was  the  tempest  they  could  not  possibly  reach  it.  Our 
lives  were  now  all  saved,  however,  and  we  lay  down  with  a 
light  heart,  blessing  God  who  had  so  mercifully  preserved 


A    KURDISH    AGA.  299 

us.  The  storm,  doubtless,  increased  the  difficulty  of  the 
passage  of  the  mountain  to-day ;  but  two  English  friends 
who  crossed  it  a  few  days  later  in  fair  weather,  were 
obliged  to  spread  carpets  upon  the  snow  for  long  distances, 
to  enable  their  horses  to  pass.  We  were  assured,  that  for 
one  or  two  months  in  the  year,  the  snow  entirely  disappears, 
and  then  it  is  passable  with  carts.  From  the  multitude 
of  abrupt  ravines  and  ridges  of  which  it  is  here  com- 
posed, it  has  received  the  name  of  Geduk-dagh,  or  fissure 
mountain. 

April  21.  Our  first  care  in  the  morning  was  to  secure 
what  remained  of  our  baggage  upon  the  mountains;  if 
indeed  any  remained;  for  some  passing  Kurd,  or  even  the 
inhabitants  of  this  village,  who  all  knew  of  our  misfortune, 
might  have  anticipated  us,  and  pilfered  every  article.  No 
one  would  move,  till  those  who  had  been  sent  last  evening 
had  received  their  reward,  notwithstanding  they  had  for- 
feited it  by  failing  in  their  attempt.  Then,  as  the  morning 
sun  shone  out  upon  the  snowy  mountains,  five  or  six  start- 
ed, and  skipping  over  them  with  the  nimbleness  of  deer, 
in  due  time  returned  with  all  our  effects,  except  two  or 
three  articles  of  slight  value.  The  poor  muleteer  sustained 
the  heaviest  loss,  for  the  horse  he  had  left  was  found  life- 
less. The  accident  detained  us  the  whole  day ;  for  it 
made  us  completely  dependent  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
the  village  for  another  animal,  and  all  were  so  disposed  to 
take  advantage  of  our  necessity,  that  night  came  on  before 
one  could  be  procured  upon  tolerable  terms. 

Our  situation  in  the  mean  time  was  not  the  most  agreea- 
ble. The  old  Kurdish  aga,  our  host,  laid  himself  out  in- 
deed to  be  uncommonly  accommodating.  By  rescuing 
our  baggage  from  becoming  a  prey  to  the  thievish  propen- 
sities of  his  nation  on  the  mountain,  he  had  imposed  upon 
us  a  real  obligation ;  and  now  he  took  constant  precau- 
tions that  none  of  our  effects  should  be  pilfered  by  his 


300  A    KURDISH    AGA. 

townsmen,  who  thronged  us  the  whole  day.  But  every 
favor  was  conferred  with  an  affected  condescension,  in- 
tended to  show  how  much  it  cost  an  orthodox  mussulman 
to  pay  attentions  to  a  Christian  and  a  Frank ;  and  with  a 
studious  exhibition  of  difficulties  in  the  way  of  gratifying 
us,  'designed  to  magnify  our  estimation  of  the  slightest  ben- 
efits; and  all  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  peskkesh, 
which  was  expected  from  us  in  return.  All  his  pretended 
efforts,  however,  procured  us  little  to  eat  besides  his  favor- 
ite pastoral  dish.  It  was  yoghoort  (curdled  milk)  mixed 
with  water,  and  thickened  with  black  bread  rubbed  into 
crumbs  between  his  hands,  differing  neither  in  its  ingredi- 
ents nor  appearance,  from  the  dish  served  out  to  certain 
domestic  animals  from  our  farmers'  kitchens,  under  the  more 
familiar  name  of  swill.  For  one  meal  a  few  eggs  were  pro- 
cured ;  but  the  request  for  more  was  repeated  in  vain,  and 
we  were  wondered  at  for  supposing  that  they,  like  a  Chris- 
tian village,  had  fowls  and  eggs.  Aga,  or  lord,  of  the  vil- 
lage as  he  was,  hardly  an  article  of  our  dress  or  baggage 
met  his  eye  without  eliciting  an  intimation,  that  it  would 
be  a  most  acceptable  memento  of  our  acquaintance.  Pen- 
knives, and  even  old  spoons  did  not  escape,  and  a  polite 
request  was  preferred  from  his  harem,  for  a  taste  of  our 
sugar.  But  his  cupidity  was  most  attracted  by  an  old  cot- 
ton shawl  that  I  had  long  worn  for  a  sash.  We  laughed 
at  him  for  begging  it,  when  he  had  already  a  good  silk  one 
of  Tripoli  manufacture  wound  around  his  head  for  a  tur- 
ban. His  reply  was,  that  his  religion  forbade  him  to  pray 
in  a  garment  entirely  of  silk,  and  he  wished,  therefore,  at 
the  hours  of  devotion,  to  substitute  a  cotton  turban,  to  give 
acceptableness  to  his  prayers !  To  his  credit  I  would  add, 
that  if  he  took  great  liberties  in  begging,  he  allowed  us  as 
great  in  refusing,  and  was  finally  satisfied  with  certainly  a 
moderate  present. 

Dahar  is  the  last  village  in  the  pashalik  of  Bayezeed, 


DESCENT    OF    THE    MOUNTAIN.  301 

and  in  it  we  saw  the  last  of  the  Kurds.  Many  individuals 
of  that  nation  wander  indeed  over  the  plains  and  hills 
beyond,  and  particularly  was  the  country  between  Kars 
and  Akhaltsikhe,  formerly  infested  by  them.  But  their  prop- 
er country,  Kurdistan,  can  hardly  be  considered  as  extend- 
ing to  the  west  of  this  mountain.  To  the  east  of  it,  the 
moslem  population  is  as  universally  and  distinctly  of  the 
Kurdish  race,  as  that  of  Asia  Minor  is  of  the  Turkish. 
The  fact  is  proved,  not  only  by  their  manners  and  charac- 
ter, but  by  their  language.  All  are  able  to  converse  in 
Turkish,  and  generally  in  Armenian  also ;  but  thus  far 
from  the  Persian  frontier  the  vernacular  language  of  all  the 
Mohammedans  we  met,  is  Kurdish,  and  so  universal  is  its 
use,  that  it  is  familiar  also  to  every  Christian.  Oar  tartar, 
besides  conversing  fluently  in  Turkish  and  Armenian,  in 
addition  to  his  native  Kurdish,  pretended  to  know  the  lan- 
guage of  a  distinct  tribe  of  about  600  families  in  the  vicini- 
ty of  Moosh,  called  Zuzijies.  We  have  no  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  such  a  people,  besides  his  assertion  and 
that  of  the  officer  of  the  pasha  whom  we  met  at  Uch-ke- 
leeseh.     Both  affirmed  that  they  are  sunny  moslems. 

April  22.  We  left  Dahar  at  6  A.  M.  to  complete  our  de- 
scent of  the  mountain.  Stern  tempestuous  winter  still  reign- 
ed on  the  heights  above,  and  sprinkled  us  with  some  flakes  of 
a  snow-squall,  as  we  started ;  but  ere  we  reached  the  bottom 
his  snows  had  disappeared,  and  the  earth  was  smiling  with 
the  aspect  of  early  spring.  The  change  of  climate  was 
more  sudden  than  I  had  ever  experienced,  and  seemed 
entirely  disproportioned  to  the  change  of  elevation.  We 
threaded  in  our  descent  an  irregular  tortuous  ravine,  in 
company  with  a  dashing  torrent;  and  with  it  were  'finally 
ushered  into  the  open  province  of  Pasin,  through  the  Kara- 
derbend,  a  remarkable  pass  between  enormous  buttresses 
of  perpendicular  rocks.  They  seemed  like  nature's  out- 
posts, to  warn  against  too  close  an  inspection  of  her  myster- 


302  IMPROVEMENT    AT    KOMATSOR. 

ries  on  the  mountain  above.  The  country  beyond  present- 
ed a  surface  of  gentle  undulations  and  swelling  hills,  and 
was  covered  with  a  soil  uncultivated  indeed,  but  almost 
without  exception  arable,  apparently  fertile,  and  admirably 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  grain.  Dely-baba,  an  Armenian 
village  of  some  consequence,  reckoned  four  hours  from 
Dahar,  appeared  not  far  to  the  right  of  us  at  11  A.  M. 
Afterward  the  large  village  of  Khorasan  was  seen  at  a 
distance,  also  on  the  right,  across  the  Aras.  At  3  P.  M. 
we  passed  through  a  small  Armenian  hamlet;  and  at  4 
stopped  for  the  night  at  Kamatsor,  nine  hours  from  Dahar. 
We  had  intended  to  reach  Amra-koy,  an  hour  farther  ; 
but  the  tartar  urged,  that,  it  being  a  moslem  village,  not  so 
good  accommodations  could  be  procured,  as  here  among 
the  Armenians ;  and  the  muleteer,  with  curses  upon  the 
aga  of  Dahar  for  his  inhospitality,  repeated  his  favorite 
proverb,  giaoor  evy  babdm  evy,  the  infidel's  house  is  my 
father's  house*,  to  indicate  his  desire  of  lodging  with  Christ- 
ians. The  hospitable  intentions  expressed  in  the  honest 
face  of  an  old  Armenian,  who  presented  himself  as  our  host, 
silenced  our  complaints ;  and  a  stable-room  furnished  with 
clean  matresses  and  cushions  for  our  convenience,  satisfied 
us  with  the  arrangement.  Dinner  was  soon  served  up  in 
a  neater  and  better  style  than  we  had  seen  among  any 
peasants  since  we  were  in  this  vicinity  before ;  a  capacious 
copper  tray  being  placed  upon  a  regular  pedestal,  and  load- 
ed with  various  provisions,  each  in  a  neat  copper  plate.  In 
a  word,  the  general  appearance  of  things  and  deportment 
of  the  people,  which  ten  months  before  had  seemed  so 
deeply  tinged  with  barbarism,  being  now  contrasted  with 
what  we  had  since  seen,  made. us  feel  that  we  were  tread- 
ing again  upon  the  borders  of  civilization. — Our  host  said 
that  his  village  formerly  contained  45  Armenian  families, 
but  only  15  remain  since  the  war.  He  estimated  the  num- 
ber of  his  nation  that  are  left  in  the  whole  of  Pasin,  at  five 
or  six  hundred  families. 


REACH    ERZROOM.  30$ 

April  23.  Determined  to  reach  Erzroom  to-day,  though 
11  hours  distant,  we  started  at  3  A.  M.  But  so  slow  was 
the  progress  of  our  miserable  animals,  that  we  were  until 
half  past  6  in  reaching  the  Aras,  a  distance  of  only  two 
hours.  We  crossed  it  by  the  Shepherd's  Bridge,  which  has 
been  already  described,  and  came  upon  the  road  we  had 
travelled  on  our  way  from  Erzroom  to  Kars.  Just  beyond 
Hassan-kulaah  an  accident  detained  us  till  it  was  evident 
that  we  could  not  all  reach  the  city  before  night,  and  I  was 
sent  forward  with  the  tartar  to  engage  lodgings,  leaving 
Mr.  Dwight  to  bring  up  the  baggage.  We  separated  in 
fair  weather,  but  a  shower  of  rain  soon  commenced,  which 
quickly  changed  to  a  violent  snow  storm,  and  continued 
until  night.  The  snow  of  winter  was  still  deep  upon  the 
ridge  that  separates  the  plain  of  Hassan-kulaah  from  Erz- 
room, and  some  banks  of  it  were  even  lying  in  the  streets 
of  the  city  itself.  We  arrived  at  sunset ;  the  storm  detain- 
ed Mr.  Dwight  until  the  following  morning. 

Erzroom,  which  we  had  regarded  as  so  uninviting  at  our 
former  visit,  when  now  viewed  from  the  side  of  Persia, 
seemed  like  another  city.  Its  edifices  of  stone,  though 
few  were  of  two  stories,  looked  solid  and  spacious ;  the 
pavements  of  its  streets,  though  made  of  rocks,  had  an 
aspect  of  neatness ;  and  the  windows  of  its  houses  open  to 
the  streets,  though  closely  latticed,  appeared  quite  Euro- 
pean. It  still  appeared  desolate ;  its  bazars  were  nearly 
deserted,  and  no  trade  seemed  to  flourish.  Of  all  its  for- 
mer Christian  population  there  remained  only  120  Armeni- 
an and  48  papal  Armenian,  families,  the  latter  having 
recently  moved  in  from  other  places ;  of  its  former  6600 
shops,  3000  were  now  shut;  and  six  tanneries  were  the 
only  manufactories  it  contained.  During  the  eight  days  of 
our  delay  we  were  hospitably  lodged  by  Mr.  Zohrab,  a 
papal  Armenian,  who  was  acting  as  commercial  agent  for 
the  English  consul  at  Trebizond.     There  were  two  priests 


304  PRESENT  STATE  OF  ERZROOM. 

of  his  sect  in  town,  and  a  ferman  was  daily  expected  for 
the  completion  of  a  church  for  them,  which  had  been  begun 
by  Russian  permission,  but  left  unfinished  when  the  army 
evacuated  the  city.  No  Armenian  bishop  had  yet  been 
substituted  for  the  one  who  emigrated  to  the  Russian 
territories. 

An  energetic  pasha  now  commanded  the  city  and 
pashalik,  and,  entering  completely  into  the  views  of  the 
Sultan,  had  introduced  his  new  regulations  and  established 
order  throughout  the  province.  He  treated  us  politely  in  a 
personal  interview,  and  readily  granted  every  facility  for 
continuing  our  journey  to  Trebizond.  Two  English  friends, 
with  whom  we  had  spent  the  winter  at  Tebriz,  and  who 
arrived  while  we  were  here,  received  his  more  particular 
attentions.  One  of  them  having  been  recommended  to 
him  as  a  brother-in-law  of  the  acting  embassador  in  Persia, 
he  was  pleased  to  consider  him  as  his  guest,  and  accord- 
ingly sent  him  rations  of  a  sheep,  a  basket  of  rice,  a  tub 
of  butter,  and  other  common  articles  of  Turkish  diet.  An 
officer  was  also  commanded  to  accompany  him  to  the 
principal  mosks,  and  other  curiosities  of  the  city.  Being 
ourselves  in  the  same  house  with  him,  his  politeness  allow- 
ed us  to  share  in  the  favors  that  were  designed  for  himself 
and  his  companion. 

The  most  interesting  circumstance  of  our  visit  to  the 
mosks  was  the  fact,  that  in  a  place  formerly  noted  for  being 
among  the  most  bigoted  in  Turkey,  five  Europeans  were 
allowed  quietly  to  enter  and  examine,  in  the  most  public 
manner  three  of  the  principal  places  of  moslem  worship. 
The  imams,  as  the  sunnies  call  their  priests,  were  very  polite 
to  us,  and  not  only  on  this  occasion,  but  so  long  as  we  were 
in  the  city,  were  we  treated  by  the  people  generally  with 
every  respect.  The  mosks  contained  nothing  to  be  observ- 
ed, except  the  usual  profusion  of  sentences  from  the  Koran 
inscribed  in  gilded  letters  upon  their  walls,  and  ugly  chan- 


VISIT    TO    THE    MOSKS.  305 

deliers  composed  of  glass  cup  lamps  and  tasseled  ostrich 
egg-shells.  Only  one,  the  Ooloo  jami,  which  measured  66 
paces  by  41,  was  remarkable  for  size,  and  that  was  gloomy, 
and  destitute  of  beauty  or  grandeur. 

Of  the  other  curiosities,  the  most  worthy  of  notice  was  the 
Chiftehminareli,  or  pair  of  minarets.    It  is  a  ruined  edifice, 
covering  nearly  as  much  ground  as  the  mosk  just  mention- 
ed, and  not  far  from  it  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  citadel. 
We  were  unable  to  learn  its  exact  date  or  object,  but  its 
antiquity  is  evidently  considerable.     A  double-headed  ea- 
gle on  one  of  its  door  posts  seems  to  refer  it  to  the  times 
of  the  Grecian  empire  ;  but  two  fluted  minarets,  from  which 
it  derives  its  present  name,  rising  on  each  side,  show  it  to 
have  been  used  for  moslem  worship;  and  a  profusion  of 
blue  glazing,   which  ornaments  them   and  the  doorway, 
betrays  a  Persian  origin,  and  reminded  us  of  the  towers  of 
Shamkor  and  Salmas.     Its  roof  has  disappeared.     Along 
either  side  within,  an  arched  corridor  shades  the  doors  of 
a  series  of  small  apartments,  which  may  have  been  the 
cells  of  either  Christian  monks,  or  moslem  devotees.     Its 
farther  extremity  is  occupied  by  a  cylindrical  structure, 
perhaps  twenty  feet  in  diameter  by  forty  in  height,  capped 
with  an  acute  cone  in  the  style  of  the  domes  on  many  old 
Armenian  churches,  and  lined  throughout  with  Maragha 
alabaster.      It   might   be   taken   for   the   sanctuary   of  a 
church,  except  that  no  crosses  appear  upon  its  walls ;  while 
its  position  in  the  southern  instead  of  the  eastern  part  of 
the  building,  intimates  rather  that  it  may  have  been  the 
kiblah  of  a  mosk ;  and  its  form,  being  like  that  of  three 
monumental  structures  just  without  the  walls  of  the  citadel, 
suggests  that  it  may  cover  the  remains  of  some  departed 
saint  or  hero.     Local  tradition  ascribes  those,  we  were  told 
when  we  examined   them   at  our  former  visit,  to  Sultan 
Mulook,  a  name  which  seems  to  have   some  connection 
with  the  -Seljookian  dynasty.     But  in  answer  to  our  in- 

vol.  ii.  27 


306  INELIGIBLE    LOCATION    FOR   A   MISSION. 

quiries  now,  for  information  from  the  same  source  respect- 
ing the  origin  of  this  building,  our  informants  began  to 
refer  it  to  the  daughters  of  Kai-kobad,  and  we  ceased  to 
question  them. 

Were  it  not  for  the  desolation  occasioned  by  the  Russian 
war,  you  would  doubtless  be  disposed  seriously  to  consider 
the  expediency  of  establishing  a  mission  at  Erzroom.  But 
now,  the  small  number  of  Armenians  remaining  in  it  and 
in  the  country  around,  must  be  considered  a  decisive  ob- 
jection. We  may  be  allowed  to  remind  you,  also,  of  the 
inhospitable  nature  of  the  country  and  climate,  as  another 
obstacle  ;  though  without  the  former,  the  latter  ought  not  to 
be  mentioned.  But  it  will  not  always  remain  in  its  present 
state.  We  doubt  not  that  an  Armenian  population  will 
again  assemble  here  ;  and  then  it  may  be  made  an  impor- 
tant centre  for  missionary  operations. 


LETTER  XXIV. 

FROM  ERZROOM  BY  TREBIZOND   TO  MALTA. 

Leave  Erzroom — Want  of  wood  in  Armenia — Sheitan-deresy — Kara-koolak 
— State  of  the  season  at  Chiftlik — Sanjaks  of  Erzroom — Road  through 
Baiboort — Passage  of  a  mountain  in  the  night — Porodor — Accident  in  the 
mountains — Beautiful  gardens  in  a  valley — Gumish-khaneh— Dangerous 
passage  of  Khojah-deresy — Forest  scenery — Poisonous  honey — Formation 
of  a  natural  bridge — Cultivation  of  maize — Secret  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity— Reach  Trebizond — Its  history — Description  of  it — Its  trade — 
Population — Greek  and  Armenian  moslems — The  Laz — Proposed  mission 
at  Trebizond — Voyage  to  Constantinople — Return  to  Malta — Concluding 
observations. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  line  of  posts  to  the  westward  of  Erzroom  had  been 
re-established  since  we  were  here  before,  and  we  availed  our- 
selves of  it  to  proceed  to  Trebizond.  With  a  tartar  to 
guide  and  protect  us,  we  started  at  3  and  a  quarter  P.  M. 
on  the  2nd  of  May.  Instead  of  fording  the  branch  of  the 
Euphrates  a  little  below  Uluja,  as  when  we  came  from 
Constantinople,  we  continued  down  its  eastern  side,  some- 
times on  its  bank  and  sometimes  at  a  distance,  through  a 
hilly  country,  till  within  an  hour  of  Ash-kulaah.  Then, 
crossing  it  by  a  bridge  of  stone,  where  it  rushes  between 
narrow  banks  of  enormous  rocks,  we  reached  the  post-house 
at  Ash-kulaah  an  hour  and  a  quarter  after  midnight,  having 
made  nine  hours  from  the  city.  Our  road  from  Uluja  had 
not  passed  a  single  inhabited  house ;  and  here  were  only 
a  few  moslem  huts.  Its  former  Armenian  inhabitants  had 
emigrated  with  the  Russians,  and  nothing  but  dilapidated 
subteraneous  walls  remained  to  mark  their  abodes, 


308  WANT    OF  WOOD    IN   ARMENIA. 

May  3.  We  started  at  7  and  a  half  A.  M.  to  make  a 
stage  of  16  hours,  without  an  intervening  village  or  an 
inhabited  house,  by  nearly  the  same  road  which  we  had 
travelled  on  a  former  occasion.  For  twelve  hours,  to  Shei- 
tan-deresy,  nothing  was  noticed  worth  recording,  in  addi- 
tion to  our  observations  when  we  came  ;  except  that  the 
few  stunted  cedars  on  the  mountain  sides,  which  then  ap- 
peared so  diminutive,  now  seemed  of  a  respectable  size,  and 
were  a  most  welcome  sight  to  the  eye  that  for  months  had 
seen  not  a  single  uncultivated  tree.  All  the  way  from 
Tebriz,  a  distance  of  more  than  300  miles  in  a  westerly  di- 
rection, and  nearly  the  whole  breadth  of  Armenia,  we  had 
found  no  forest  trees,  except  the  little  cluster  of  pines  at  the 
Shepherd's  Bridge  ;  nor  indeed  hardly  a  wild  bush,  except 
in  one  small  spot  near  the  Murad-chai ! 

The  gloomy  dell  just  mentioned,  seemed  now  even  more 
appropriately  named  than  when  we  passed  it  before ;  and 
as  we  issued  from  it  in  safety,  our  tartar's  countenance 
brightened,  and  he  thanked  God  that  Sheitan-deresy  was 
crossed  before  night  overtook  us.  The  effect  of  the  Rus- 
sian invasion  in  quelling  robbery  seemed  still  to  be  felt, 
however,  and  it  was  well  known  that  no  accident  had  oc- 
curred here  since  that  event.  But  many  are  the  places  in 
Turkey,  which,  having  once  got  a  bad  name,  long  retain 
it,  and  are  habitually  dreaded  for  years  after  they  have 
ceased  to  be  the  resort  of  robbers  :  and  probably  years  of 
security  will  not  efface  from  this  frightful  dell  its  charac- 
ter as  a  rendezvous  for  the  sons  of  violence.  Reaching 
Kara-koolak  at  8  and  a  half  P.  M.  our  tartar  introduced 
us  to  an  Armenian  post-house  for  the  night,  recommending 
its  keeper  to  us  by  saying,  that  he  also  was  a  chorbajy, 
(soup-maker). 

May  4.  We  passed  at  an  early  hour  over  the  woodless 
mountains  of  Otluk-bely,  now  spotted  with  numerous  and 
deep  banks  of  snow,  into  the  extensive  plain  of  Lori.      It 


SANJAKS    OF   ERZROOM.  309 

was  more  cultivated  than  when  we  saw  it  before,  as  was  al- 
so the  whole  country  from  Ash-kulaah  to  Chiftlik.  We  ob- 
served no  crops  but  grain.  Descending  from  the  next 
ridge  into  a  deep  wooded  glen,  the  infant  river  of  Niksar 
conducted  us  by  many  a  winding  into  the  plain  of  Kerkid- 
chiftlik.  The  garden  trees  around  it  were  just  putting 
forth  their  young  foliage.  The  almond  had  blossomed  at 
Tebriz  the  last  of  March,  but  here,  for  the  first  time  in 
Turkish  Armenia,  did  we  observe  any  leaves  beginning  to 
appear.     We  found  our  post-house  at  Germery  after  dark. 

May  5.  When  passing  here  before,  we  understood  that 
this  sanjak  and  the  one  to  the  west  of  it,  belonged  to  the 
pashalik  of  Erzroom.  Now  we  were  assured  that  Chiftlik 
is  subject  to  the  pasha  of  Gumish-khaneh.  Then,  also,  the 
sanjaks  of  Erzroom  were  said  to  be  twelve ;  when  last  at 
Erzroom  we  were  informed  that  they  are  but  nine.*  Prob- 
ably Chiftlik  and  Sheheran  had  in  the  meantime  been  set 
off  to  Gumish-khaneh,  as  its  pasha  is  now  subject  to  that  of 
Erzroom. 

The  horses  of  the  post  being  otherwise  employed  in  the 
morning,  we  were  detained  until  4  P.  M.  for  the  menziljy 
to  collect  our  complement  from  the  neighboring  villages. 
Starting  at  that  hour,  we  turned  to  the  right  toward  the 
mountains  of  Gumish-khaneh,  from  the  road  to  Constanti- 
nople, which  we  had  followed  thus  far.  It  had  been  our 
wish  not  to  come  on  that  road  at  all,  but  to  take  another, 
ten  or  twelve  hours  shorter,  through  Baiboort,  a  place 
of  ancient  Armenia  containing  about  1000  Turkish  and 
(since  the  war)  60  Armenian  families.     The  want  of  post 

*  Eleven  of  the  twelve  sanjaks  mentioned  to  us  first,  were  Sheheran,  Erz>* 
engan,  Chiftlik,  Terjan,  Baiboort,  Ispir,  Tortoom,  Upper  Pasin,  Lower  Pa- 
sin,  Khanoos,  and  Erzroom;  the  name  of  the  twelfth  we  did  not  learn. — 
Our  last  informant,  a  young  man  in  the  service  of  the  collector  of  taxes,  ad- 
ded, that  in  the  nine  sanjaks  now  composing  the  pashalik,  there  are  3800 
villages. 

vol.  ii.  27* 


310  PASSAGE    OF  A    MOUNTAIN    IN    THE    NIGHT. 

horses  upon  it  prevented.  Our  English  friends  took  that 
direction,  and  encountered  a  snowy  mountain  between  Erz- 
room  and  Baiboort,  (probably  a  continuation  of  Otluk-bely,) 
yielding  nothing  in  difficulty  to  Gediik-dagh.  They  were 
obliged  again  to  carpet  the  melting  snow  for  some  distance, 
and  passed  a  night  upon  it  in  the  open  air. 

Just  where  we  entered  the  mountains,  perhaps  an  hour 
from  Germery,  a  little  hamlet  occupied  a  sunny  nook,  and 
charmed  us  by  its  green  parterres  and  smiling  gardens. 
Thence  we  followed  up  a  craggy  glen,  by  means  of  a  de- 
cent carriage  road,  the  origin  of  which  we  knew  not  wheth- 
er to  attribute  to  the  Russians,  who  made  here  an  abortive 
attempt  to  penetrate  to  Gumish-khaneh,  or  to  the  peasants, 
who  draw  their  timber  from  the  mountains  upon  it  with 
their  carts.  Two  hours  from  Germery  was  another  consid- 
erable village  ;  and  beyond,  the  mountains  began  to  exhibit 
pines  of  some  size  and  a  variety  of  smaller  trees.  At  length 
the  road  ceased  ;  and  we  improved  the  last  rays  of  twilight 
in  clambering  up  a  rough  and  tedious  glen,  which  led  us 
to  the  top  of  a  mountain  ridge  exceedingly  narrow  and 
sharp.  In  the  darkness  of  night,  the  almost  precipitous 
descent  beyond  seemed  to  lead  into  a  bottomless  abyss. 
Most  of  the  company  dismounted,  but  considering  my  horse 
surer-footed  than  myself,  I  kept  my  seat.  How  our  surijy 
traced  the  path,  or  whether  he  actually  did,  we  knew  not, 
for  so  intense  was  the  darkness  that  no  path  appeared. 
However,  aided  not  a  little  by  our  specific  gravity,  we  made 
our  way  rapidly  downward,  over  rocks  and  stones,  without 
accident  to  any  one. 

Proceeding  thus  for  an  hour  or  two,  though  not  always 
with  so  rapid  a  descent,  we  often  wished  for  daylight  to  dis- 
close to  us  the  wildness  of  the  spot,  which  the  darkness  of 
night  now  prevented  us  from  seeing  and  describing.  At 
9  P.  M.  six  hours  from  Germery,  we  reached  the  village  of 
Porodor;  and  were  first  warned  of  the  fact,  by  finding  our- 


ACCIDENT    IN    THE    MOUNTAINS.  311 

selves  on  the  top  of  a  house  !  After  stumbling  awhile  over 
the  terraces,  we  obtained  lodgings  for  the  two  or  three  hours 
we  intended  to  stop.  No  straw,  the  usual  provender,  could 
be  obtained  for  our  horses,  and  after  wrangling  long  with 
our  host,  the  siirijy,  as  a  last  resort,  accepted  of  some  hay  ! 

May  6.  We  were  awake  again  at  1  o'clock,  and  started 
at  half  past  3  A.  M.  Objects  were  but  dimly  discernible  in 
the  light  of  the  moon  and  of  the  early  dawn;  and  our 
stupid  siirijy,  instead  of  pursuing  the  level  bed  of  a  small 
river  along  which  we  travelled,  led  us  by  a  goat's  path  up 
the  steep  face  of  a  mountain  which  formed  one  of  its 
banks.  The  track  was  too  narrow  to  afford  a  firm  footing 
to  the  loaded  horses,  and  they  both  lost  their  balance. 
One  tumbled  over  and  over  into  the  middle  of  the  stream 
below ;  the  other,  though  tied  to  him  as  usual  by  the  tail, 
in  some  way  extricated  himself,  and  continuing  upright 
landed  upon  his  feet.  The  first  also  soon  recovered  him- 
self, but  his  load,  consisting  of  our  most  valuable  clothing 
and  books,  had  turned,  and  the  bag  that  was  lowest  be- 
came thoroughly  soaked  before  he  could  be  got  out  of  the 
water.  This  stream  was  limpid  and  pure,  but  a  similar 
accident  had  on  a  former  occasion  plunged  the  same  bag 
in  a  warm  mineral  mud-puddle.  The  affair  caused  the 
surijy  to  smart  under  the  tartar's  lash,  and  detained  us 
about  an  hour. 

We  had  two  mountain  ridges  to  cross  during  the  morn- 
ing, neither  of  them  inferior  to  the  one  of  last  night.  The 
passage  in  both  cases  was  effected  by  ascending  a  ravine 
on  one  side,  and  descending  another  on  the  opposite.  Be- 
tween them  was  some  cultivation,  but  no  village  appeared. 
Their  sides  were  rather  sparingly  covered  with  trees ;  and 
on  one  were  a  few  firs.  They  presented  the  boldest  fea- 
tures of  mountain  scenery  ;  but  notwithstanding  their  height, 
and  near  connection  with  the  Giaoor-dagh  to  the  west,  very 
little  snow  lay  upon  them.     The  last  ravine,  by  a  long  and 


312        BEAUTIFUL  GARDENS  IN  A  VALLEY. 

nearly  a  straight  course,  brought  us  suddenly  upon  the 
banks  of  a  large  stream,  now  swollen  above  its  banks  and 
running  to  the  left.  It  showed  us  that  we  had  unawares 
already  begun  our  descent  toward  the  Black  sea,  from  the 
elevated  regions  over  which  we  had  so  long  travelled,  and 
accounted  for  the  novel  sight  of  villages  with  fruit  gardens 
around  them,  which  had  attracted  our  notice  in  the  ravine 
from  which  we  now  issued. 

The  narrow  valley  of  the  river,  at  the  point  where  we 
entered  it,  seemed  almost  a  paradise.  The  naked  rocks  of 
the  cliffs  that"  inclosed  it,  concentrated  the  rays  of  the  sun 
to  a  degree,  which  might  in  time  have  become  oppressive, 
but  the  first  feeling  of  which  to  us,  recently  from  such  chilly 
regions,  was  like  a  sudden  transfer  from  a  bleak  November 
atmosphere  to  a  smiling  morning  in  May.  Along  the 
banks  of  the  stream  was  a  continued  series  of  fruit  gardens, 
crowded  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  cherry,  apple,  pear, 
walnut,  peach,  mulberry,  and  other  trees,  now  covered  with 
blossoms  which  filled  the  air  with  their  odor.  Among 
them  were  scattered  numerous  country-houses,  to  which 
their  owners  are  attracted  in  winter,  by  the  mildness  of 
the  climate  of  this  charming  valley.  We  were  now  upon 
the  high  road  from  Erzroom  through  Baiboort  to  Trebi- 
zond ;  and  every  mile  or  two  brought  us  to  a  khan,  or 
shop,  where  provender,  butter  and  cheese,  bread  and  fruit, 
were  exposed  for  sale.  The  bread  was  indeed  coarse  and 
black,  but  it  was  in  regular  loaves,  such  as  we  had  not  seen 
for  many  a  month ;  and  the  sight  and  taste  of  well  preserv- 
ed apples  on  the  6th  of  May  was  delicious.  Every  vestige 
of  inhospitable  Armenia  and  Persia  was  gone.  They  offer 
to  the  passing  traveller  no  such  conveniences  as  these, 
humble  as  they  were. 

Gumish-khaneh  is  on  the  left  of  the  river,  about  an  hour 
and  a  quarter  below  where  we  first  came  upon  it,  and  not 
in  sight  of  the  direct  road.     Leaving  the  margin  of  the 


GUMISH-KHANEH.  313 

stream,  you  climb  the  mountain  by  a  good  path  for  half  an 
hour,  and  find  its  houses  near  the  top,  rising  one  above 
another  along  the  sides  of  a  ravine,  which  just  below  sends 
out  on  either  hand  remarkable  projections  of  perpendicular 
rock.  They  seemed  to  be  nature's  provision  for  its  de- 
fence ;  but  man  had  not  availed  himself  of  them,  and  not 
a  gun  nor  a  battlement  appeared.  We  reached  the  town 
at  a  quarter  before  11  A.  M.  having  come  a  distance  of  6 
hours  from  Porodor.  Our  observations  at  Gumish-khaneh 
were  necessarily  limited ;  for,  arriving  hungry  and  sleepy, 
and  in  haste  to  proceed,  we  were  obliged  to  improve  the 
few  hours  of  our  delay  in  eating  and  sleeping.  I  have 
already  informed  you,  that  it  is  governed,  as  well  as  the 
province  of  which  it  is  the  capital,  by  a  pasha  of  two  tails, 
who  is  subject  to  the  pasha  of  Erzroom.  Some  Armeni- 
ans of  the  place  had  told  us  at  Chiftlik,  that  its  population 
consists  of  200  Greek,  200  Turkish,  and  500  Armenian 
houses;  and  a  papal  Armenian  of  Trebizond  had  assured 
us  at  Erzroom,  that,  out  of  2000  houses  which  occupy  it, 
500  are  Greek,  70  Armenian,  from  5  to  10  papal  Armen- 
ian, and  the  rest  Turkish. 

We  obtained  no  information  here  to  reconcile  these  dis- 
crepancies ;  except  that  in  passing  through  the  bazars, 
hardly  any  moslems  appeared,  and  we  therefore  judged 
that  the  Christians  far  outnumber  them.  We  were  in- 
formed, too,  that  the  Greeks  are  much  the  most  numerous 
class  of  Christians,  and  have  five  churches  with  a  bishop 
of  their  own ;  while  the  Armenians  have  but  one  church, 
and  are  subject  to  the  bishop  of  Trebizond.  The  pasha- 
lik,  likewise,  is  said  to  be  full  of  Greeks ;  and  perhaps  for 
this  reason  the  high  mountain  in  it,  which  has  been  repeat- 
edly mentioned  by  the  name  of  Giaoor-dagh,  received 
that  appellation,  which  means  infidel  mountain.  In  the 
ravine  near  the  town  is  the  celebrated  silver  mine,  which 
has  given  to  it  its  name  of  Gumish-khaneh,  or  place  of 


314 


GUMISH-KHANEH. 


silver.  Specimens  of  solid  ore  were  given  us,  but  we  af- 
terward understood,  that  a  dust  or  sand  is  procured  which 
is  richer.  It  contains  lead  and  silver,  but  the  proportion 
of  the  latter  is  so  small  as  hardly  to  pay  for  refining. 
Copper  mines  are  found  elsewhere,  at  a  distance  from  the 
town. — The  Russians  remained  here  too  short  a  time  to 
leave  many  permanent  traces,  or  to  take  away  many  of  the 
Christian  inhabitants. 

We  started  again  at  a  quarter  before  2  P.  M.  and  were 
soon  upon  the  banks  of  the  river.  So  long  as  the  gardens 
continued,  our  ride  was  delightful.  But  at  length  the  val- 
ley became  too  narrow  for  them,  and  the  perpendicular  or 
impending  cliffs  of  the  two  opposing  mountains  which 
formed  it,  approached  so  near  each  other,  as  to  leave  but 
just  room  for  the  river's  channel.  Our  path  at  one  time 
wound  like  a  goat's  track,  over  rocks  high  up  the  moun- 
tain side ;  and  at  another  formed  a  narrow  foothold  along 
the  margin  of  the  water.  The  scenery  was  awfully  grand 
beyond  description.  But  fear  often  deprived  me  of  the 
power  of  admiration,  as  my  eye  glanced  to  the  bottom  of 
the  abyss,  and  showed  me  how  inevitably  a  stumble  of  my 
animal  would  plunge  me  into  eternity  in  a  moment,  or 
caught  a  glimpse,  (as  it  did  in  one  place,)  of  the  carcase 
a  horse,  which,  by  a  similar  accident,  had  been  precipi- 
tated downward,  till  it  was  arrested  and  suspended  in  mid 
air  between  two  projecting  crags.  To  travel  such  a  road 
in  the  dark  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  and  so  we  stopped 
for  the  night  at  a  khan,  5  hours  from  town. 

May  7.  The  distance  from  Giimish-khaneh  to  Trebi- 
zond  is  24  hours.  Of  course  19  remained  to  be  travelled, 
and  that  too  with  the  same  horses,  for  there  is  no  post- 
house  on  the  road.  To  accomplish  the  whole  with  our 
baggage  by  daylight  was  evidently  impossible ;  and  still  we 
deemed  it  highly  important  to  reach  Trebizond  to  night. 
It  was  therefore  concluded  to  push  forward  ourselves,  and 


KHOJAH-DERESY.  315 

leave  Antonio  to  bring  up  the  baggage  as  he  could.  We 
started  at  4  A.  M.  and  followed  the  river  along  the  same 
sublime  chasm,  through  dangers  as  constant,  and  with  ap- 
prehension as  much  on  the  rack,  as  yesterday,  for  3  hours. 
Then  we  left  it,  and  traced  to  its  source  on  the  right,  a 
tributary  stream  running  through  a  ravine  of  precisely  the 
same  features.  Surely  never  can  we  forget  the  sensations 
of  awful  grandeur,  and  of  fearful  anxiety,  which  impressed 
themselves  upon  our  minds  and  nerves  during  the  whole 
of  our  passage  through  the  Khqjah-deresy,  or  old  man's 
valley,  in  the  mountains  of  Pontus.  It  is  nature's  master- 
piece of  sublimity ;  or  rather,  an  unequalled  exhibition  of  the 
power  and  economy  of  God  :  a  mass  of  the  eternal  moun- 
tains cleft  in  twain,  to  drain  off  the  waters  that  would  oth- 
erwise collect  in  their  bosom  !  a  canal  worthy  of  the  omnip- 
otent hand  that  formed  it !  Few  places  occurred,  for  a 
distance  of  six  or  seven  hours,  that  we  were  not  tracing  a 
narrow  path  along  the  face  of  precipices,  where  a  false  step 
might  precipitate  one  a  fearful  depth,  and  plunge  him  a 
mangled  corpse  in  the  foaming  stream. 

Such  was  the  effect  upon  my  nerves,  (then  doubtless 
somewhat  weakened  by  illness  and  fatigue,)  that  I  believe 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  me  immediately  after- 
ward to  have  travelled  in  the  night,  as  we  had  often  done 
during  our  journey,  trusting  implicitly  to  the  guidance  of  a 
siirijy,  and  the  carefulness  of  our  horses.  But  we  judge  of 
every  thing  by  comparison.  The  natives  of  these  moun- 
tains invariably  spoke  of  it  as  a  good  road.  And  very  like- 
ly I  should  myself  have  formed  a  better  opinion,  and  given 
a  less  frightful  picture  of  it,  had  I  never  backed  any  but  a 
strong  and  sure-footed  horse.  Thus  far  from  Erzroom,  we 
had  not  performed  a  single  stage  without  some  of  our 
animals'  giving  out,  stumbling,  falling,  and  lying  down,  and 
I  could  not  quiet  the  apprehension,  that  these  were  any 
moment  liable  to  a  similar  accident. — This  was  the  winter 


316  FOREST    SCENERY. 

road  to  TrebizoncL  Another  strikes  off  across  the  moun- 
tains a  little  this  side  of  Gumish-khaneh,  and  is  five  or  six 
hours  nearer ;  but  it  was  not  yet  opened  by  reason  of  the 
snow.  That  it  is  not  much  safer,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact,  that  our  tartar  having  taken  it  on  his  return,  his 
horse,  a  good  strong  beast  which  he  had  purchased  at 
Trebizond,  slipped  down  a  mountain  and  was  killed. 

We  passed,  this  morning  and  yesterday,  numerous  com- 
panies  of  peasants,    mostly   Greeks,    moving   as    is  their 
custom  from  their  winter  residence  in  the  valleys  below,  to 
their  summer  residence  upon  the  mountains.     They  were 
generally  dressed  in  the   poorest  clothing,  and  had   almost 
no  furniture.     Three  hours  from  the  point  where  we  left 
the  large  river,  the  ravine  we  followed  conducted  us,  after 
a  long   and  toilsome  ascent,  to  the  top  of  a  sharp  mountain 
ridge,  on  which  some  patches  of  snow  were   still  lingering. 
We  stretched  our  eyes  to  the  north  to  discern  the  sea,  as 
did  Xenophon  with  his  Ten  Thousand,  perhaps  from  this 
or  from  some  neighboring  height.    But,  though  we  imagined 
that  in  one  direction  it  ought  to  be  seen,  nothing  except 
thin  clouds  appeared.     Not  a  village  was  near  our  route  ; 
all  the  numerous  khans  we  passed  were  already   deserted, 
in  anticipation  that  the  other  road  would  in  a  day  or  two 
draw  away  the  travel  from  this ;  and  having  started  without 
eating,   we  began  to  feel  the  calls  of  hunger.     After   a 
descent  of  an  hour  or  two  from  the  ridge  just  mentioned, 
we  were  scantily   supplied  at  a  derbend,  occupied  by  a 
guard  of  miserable  fellows,  with  barley  bread  of  the  coars- 
est, dirtiest  kind,  and  dried  yoghoort. 

Beyond,  the  mountainous  sides  of  the  ravine  we  descend- 
ed were  covered  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  with  a  thick  and 
noble  growth  of  forest  trees  ;  among  which  the  beech  stood 
preeminent  for  its  stately  height,  and  the  elegance  of  its 
smooth  tapering  trunk.  The  grateful  shade  of  the  forest, 
the  odor  of  flowering  shrubs,  the   music  of  birds,  and  the 


FORMATION    OF    A   NATURAL  BRIDGE.  317 

murmuring  of  a  torrent  concealed  in  the  bottom  of  the  glen, 
combined  to  impress  upon  us  almost  as  deep  a  sensation  of 
the  beautiful,  as  we  had  experienced  of  the  sublime  in  the 
morning.  Among  the  flowering  shrubs,  the  blossom  of  the 
azalea  pontica  scented  the  whole  atmosphere  with  its 
strong  odor.  From  it,  doubtless,  the  bees  obtained  the 
honey  which  poisoned  Xenophon's  army.  The  same 
poisonous  honey  is  common  now  in  this  district,  producing 
when  eaten,  headache,  delirium  and  vomiting.  A  stranger 
ate  some  by  mistake,  with  all  these  effects,  only  a  few  days 
before  we  were  at  Trebizond.  The  natives  detect  it,  we 
were  told,  by  its  being  strongly  scented  with  the  blossom 
of  the  shrub  just  named.  That  shrub  I  have  never  noticed 
elsewhere.  It  exactly  resembles  the  wild  bush  commonly 
called  honeysuckle  in  New  England,  from  which  children 
in  the  spring  are  fond  of  gathering  a  watery  excrescence 
to  eat,  except  that  its  blossom  is  yellow. 

Ten  hours  from  Trebizond  the  forest  was  succeeded  by 
cultivation,  and  we  soon  crossed  the  stream  just  alluded  to 
by  a  natural  bridge,  called  by  the  natives,  I  believe,  Yer- 
koprust/,  or  earth  bridge.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  forma- 
tion. Just  where  the  road  strikes  it,  a  mineral  spring,  with 
a  copious  ebullition  of  gas,  discharges  a  small  quantity  of 
water,  apparently  the  whole  of  which  is  turned  to  stone  be- 
fore it  reaches  three  rods  from  its  source.  Similar  appear- 
ances were  also  observed  on  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  and 
the  inquiry  was  immediately  suggested,  whether  the  bridge 
itself  may  not  have  been  formed  by  such  a  process.  Jump- 
ing from  my  horse,  I  descended  so  as  to  have  a  distinct 
view  of  its  upper  extremity.  The  same  mineral  fluid  was 
dripping  down  its  whole  length,  and  had  formed  shapeless 
stalactites,  which  made  up  the  nether  arch,  and  reached 
almost  or  quite  to  the  water's  surface.  The  bridge  extends 
some  distance  up  and  down  the  stream,  and  being  covered 
with  earth  and  vegetation,  the  traveller  might  easily  pass 

vol.  ii.  28 


318  CULTIVATION    OF   MOUNTAINS. 

without  noticing  it.  To  confirm  such  a  theory  of  its  forma- 
tion, another  was  observed  not  far  below,  in  a  forming 
state.  A  similar  spring  upon  a  high  bank  was  discharging 
its  water  toward  the  river,  and  by  continual  deposits  had 
extended  a  rock  nearly  half  across  the  stream.  In  one 
part,  a  large  mass  had  broken  off  by  its  unsupported  weight, 
and  fallen  into  the  current.  The  water  of  the  spring  evi- 
dently goes  on  depositing  its  layer  of  stony  matter,  as  it 
descends  the  bank,  until,  reaching  the  water  of  the  river, 
it  is  diluted  by  it,  and  the  process  ceases.  Thus  a  con- 
stant passage  is  left  open  for  the  stream  underneath,  until 
the  rock  extends  quite  across,  and  rests  upon  the  opposite 
bank. 

The  stream  continued  to  flow  on,  as  we  proceeded,  with 
the  rapidity  of  a  torrent  descending  from  a  mountain. 
Perpendicular  ledges  of  rocks  rose  up  from  its  narrow 
banks  to  a  considerable  height,  and  then  a  steep  acclivity 
extended  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  on  either  side.  Neat 
bridges  of  a  single  stone  arch,  thrown  over  it  every  mile 
or  two,  facilitated  communication  between  its  two  banks. 
Our  path  generally  ran  pretty  high  along  the  mountain 
above  the  precipices ;  and  though  now  rough  from  bad 
weather,  was  made  with  some  pains  for  Turkey.  I  could 
not  yet  divest  my  nerves  of  all  misgiving,  the  effect  of  im- 
pressions received  in  the  Khojah-deresy ;  and  had  we  nev- 
er seen  that,  we  should  probably  have  spoken  of  the  sublim- 
ity of  the  scenery  here.  The  slopes  of  the  opposite  moun- 
tains, were  extensively  cultivated;  and  certainly  never 
before  did  we  dream  that  such  steep  declivities  could  be 
tilled.  The  inclination  of  some  patches  was  not  many 
degrees  from  vertical ;  many  were  evidently  too  precipitous 
for  the  plough  to  have  been  used,  and  must  have  been 
worked^  with  hand  instruments ;  and  nowhere  was  a  single 
spot  terraced.  It  proved,  in  fact,  that  there  was  far  from 
being  so  much  exaggeration  as  we  had  supposed,  in  what 


CULTIVATION    OF    MAIZE.  319 

a  moslem  fellow-traveller  had  previously  told  us — that  the 
Laz  cultivate  mountains  so  nearly  perpendicular,  as  to  be 
able  to  stand  to  sow  and  reap,  only  by  tying  themselves  to 
trees. 

The  crops  we  observed  were  grain  and  maize,  in  nearly 
equal  quantities ;  the  latter  of  which  they  were  now  plant- 
ing. We  observed  much  bread  made  from  it  in  Trebi- 
zond,  and  it  is  known  to  be  almost  the  only  bread  corn  of 
Colchis.  Some  have  supposed  that  maize  was  first  found 
in  America,  and  transplanted  from  thence.  But  the  extent 
to  which  it  is  now  cultivated  far  up  the  Nile  in  Egypt,  and 
the  fact  that  so  long;  ago  as  1673  Chardin  found  it  to  be 
the  principal  food  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  retired  regions 
of  Colchis,*  may  convince  one  that  it  cannot  have  been  of 
exclusively  American  origin.  Were  an  old  Greek  geog- 
rapher reflecting  upon  this  singular  affinity  between  the 
productions  of  Egypt  and  Colchis,  he  would  perhaps  as- 
cribe it  to  the  invasion  of  Sesostris  and  his  Colchian  colo- 
ny. America  can  much  more  fairly  claim  to  have  origin- 
ated the  potato.  That  vegetable  is  not  found  in  the 
Levant,  nor  in  any  part  of  western  Asia,  except  within  the 
immediate  reach  of  European  influence,  and  there  only  in 
small  quantities. 

The  cultivators  and  inhabitants  of  this  valley  are  not 
Laz,  but  of  Greek  descent.  Some,  I  believe,  still  openly 
adhere  to  the  Greek  faith.  But  many  have  been  professed- 
ly converted  to  Mohammedanism,  and  pass  among  moslems 
as  followers  of  their  prophet.  But  we  were  interested 
to  learn  from  good  authority,  that  their  profession  is  a  mere 
pretence.  They  practise  neither  circumcision,  nor  any  of 
the  rites  of  the  moslem  religion.  Secretly  they  are  still 
attached  to  the  Greek  church,  and  have  priests  to  perform 
for  them  its  rites.  Their  names  they  take  from  the  Old 
Testament   as  a  common    ground  between  moslems  and 

*  Chardin,  vol.  1:  p.  161. 


320  SECRET    PROFESSORS    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Christians.  Though  inclined  to  the  opinion,  that  sincerity 
even  in  a  false  faith  is  more  favorable  to  the  admission  of 
truth  than  hypocrisy  or  skepticism,  I  would  still  suggest, 
that  the  cord  which  thus  binds  this  people  to  the  forms  of 
Christianity,  may  perhaps  be  advantageously  seized  by  a 
missionary  to  attach  them  to  its  spirit.  No  villages  appear- 
ed, and  their  light  houses  with  shingled  roofs  were  perched 
separately  along  the  declivities  of  the  mountains.  We 
were  informed  that  they  are  their  winter  residences,  and 
are  in  summer  entirely  deserted.  The  numerous  khans 
along  the  road,  where  they  dispose  of  their  produce  to 
caravans  and  travellers,  were  already  all  closed. 

At  half  past  4  P.  M.  we  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
mountain,  at  a  cluster  of  houses  called  Jevizlik,  6  hours 
from  Trebizond.  It  is  the  last  spot  in  the  pashalik  of 
Gumish-khaneh ;  and  was,  I  believe,  the  limit  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Russian  arms  toward  Trebizond.  Our  siirijy, 
who  in  fact  was  the  owner  of  our  horses  and  fearful  that 
we  should  ride  them  too  far,  after  trying  every  expedient 
during  the  day  to  retard  our  progress,  now  positively 
declared  that  we  should  go  no  farther.  Our  arguments 
had  been  already  expended,  and  we  told  the  tartar,  that 
for  aught  we  cared  the  siirijy  might  stop,  but  with  him 
our  distinct  understanding  was,  that  he  should  see  us  to 
Trebizond  to  night.  His  tartar  spirit  was  roused  for  the 
first  time  during  the  journey,  and  putting  spurs  to  our 
horses  we  skimmed  over  the  first  two  hours  in  one.  Then 
the  poor  siirijy,  more  alarmed  than  ever  for  his  horses* 
overtook  us.  But  he  was  a  Turk,  and  we  had  not  mis- 
judged that  such  a  decided  step  would  improve  his  tem- 
per. We  proceeded  on  in  greater  harmony  and  at  a 
rapid  pace.  Our  road  was  good,  and  the  aspect  of  the 
country  improved  as  we  approached  the  city.  The  hou- 
ses of  the  people  were  respectable,  and  on  here  and 
there  a  height  appeared  a  palace.     The  hills  seemed  to 


DESCRIPTION    OF    TREBIZOND.  321 

possess  an  excellent  soil,  wild  fig-trees  marked  a  milder 
climate,  and  the  improved  color  of  the  bread,  exposed 
for  sale  in  the  shops,  indicated  an  advance  in  civiliza- 
tion. We  reached  Trebizond  at  8  and  a  half  P.  M.  and 
were  hospitably  received  and  entertained  during  our  stay 
by  the  English  consul,  Mr.  Brandt. 

Trebizond  was  known  to  the  Greeks  by  the  name  of 
Trapezus,  and  according  to  them  its  foundation  was  laid 
far  back  in  the  ages  of  fable.  As  one  of  the  constellation 
of  Greek  colonies  which  illuminated  the  southern  coast  of 
the  Euxine,  it  traced  its  origin  to  Sinope,  the  mother  of 
them  all ;  and  Sinope  claimed  for  its  founder  a  member  of 
the  expedition  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  Four  hundred  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  Xenophon  found  it  inhabited  by 
Greeks,  among  whom  he  happily  recruited  his  Ten  Thou- 
sand, worn  out  by  their  retreat  of  1600  miles  from  the 
plains  of  Babylon .*  It  was  an  important  city  of  the  Greek 
empire  of  Constantinople,  until  the  subjugation  of  that 
empire  by  the  crusaders  left  it  independent.  Then  its 
duke,  already  of  the  imperial  family  of  Comneni  by  birth, 
assumed  to  himself  the  dignity  of  emperor.  His  dominions 
extended  from  Sinope  to  the  Phasis,  and  his  family  reigned 
more  than  250  years,  from  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth to  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Then  it  sub- 
mitted to  Mohammed  Second,  the  conqueror  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  Trebizond  has  ever  since  formed  an  integral 
part  of  the  Turkish  empire.f 

It  is  prettily  situated  along  an  open  shore,  at  the  foot  of 
a  hill,  which  rises  behind  and  commands  it,  and  intercepts 
the  view  of  mountains  at  a  distance.  Hardly  any  remains 
of  its  ancient  times  appear,  except  perhaps  the  piers  of  a 
harbor,  now  used  only  for  kayilcs  or  small  craft;  and  a 
distant  view  left  us  doubtful  whether  even  they  are  any 

*  Gillies'  Hist,  of  Greece.  Chap.  26.     t  Gibbon's  Dec.  and  Fall,  L.  61,  68. 

vol.  ii.  28* 


322  TRADE    OF    TREBIZOND. 

thing  but  natural  ledges  of  rocks  just  beneath  the  water. 
Its  present  walls,  or  at  least  a  part  of  them  along  the  coast 
now  in  a  falling  state,  probably  date  back  to  the  times  of 
the  Comneni.  Many  of  its  inhabitants,  especially  the 
Christians,  live  without  the  walls  on  the  east ;  and  numer- 
ous fruit  trees  among  which  their  houses  are  interspersed 
and  almost  hidden,  surround  them  with  rural  charms. 
The  olive,  grape,  fig  and  orange  find  here  a  congenial 
climate ;  and  the  lemon  too  is  cultivated  with  success,  but 
does  not  come  to  maturity  in  the  open  air.  From  the 
warmth  of  the  climate,  fevers  are  not  uncommon  in  the 
autumn,  but  we  did  not  learn  that  it  is  esteemed  specially 
unhealthy.  The  plague  committed  some  ravages  the  last 
year,  and  was  said  to  exist  at  Jevizlik  during  our  visit. 

In  trade  Trebizond  has  long  since  eclipsed  its  parent 
Sinope,  and  all  its  sister  ports  along  the  coast.  It  is  now 
the  principal  port  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Black  sea, 
and  almost  the  only  one  visited  by  European  vessels.  Still 
its  harbor  is  bad  and  its  trade  small.  Some  vessels  anchor 
here  in  an  open  road  on  the  east,  and  others  for  more  secu- 
rity stop  at  Platan  a,  some  distance  to  the  west.  Six  or 
eight  European  vessels  only  were  in  port  when  we  were 
there,  and  that,  I  believe,  was  an  unusual  number.  They 
all  come  from  Constantinople,  and  bring  little  besides  salt, 
and  a  few  European  goods  for  the  Persian  market.  Hav- 
ing discharged  these  they  proceed  to  Redoot-kulaah,  Tag- 
anrog, Odessa,  or  elsewhere,  for  a  return  cargo,  but  rarely 
find  one  here.  Native  vessels,  however,  often  sail  directly 
for  the  capital.  Of  course,  there  is  occasional  communica- 
tion with  almost  every  important  port  in  the  Black  sea 
Besides  the  English  consul  already  mentioned,  who  adds  to 
his  official  functions  the  employment  of  a  merchant,  there 
is  also  a  consul  for  the  French,  and  another  for  the  Sardin- 
ian nations.  Add  to  these  the  attaches  of  their  consulates, 
and  hardly  another  European  resident  is  found  in  the  place. 


ITS    POPULATION.  323 

The  Greeks,  both  here  and  in  the  interior,  speak  a  cor- 
rupt modern  Greek.  An  Armenian  of  the  place  had  told 
us  at  Erzroom,  that  they  amount  in  the  city  to  900  families  ; 
but  a  more  credible  informant  on  the  spot  assured  us,  that 
they  are  only  500.  They  have  nine  parishes,  with  an  arch- 
bishop at  their  head,  and  some  of  their  churches,  which  are 
numerous,  bear  marks  of  a  venerable  antiquity.  They  had 
had  a  grammar  school  of  some  respectability  ;  but  two  teach- 
ers having  died  successively,  not  long  since,  it  was  not  at 
present  in  operation. — The  Armenians,  also,  speak  their  own 
language,  and  amount  to  250  families.  They  are  divided 
into  four  parishes,  with  three  or  four  churches,  and  a  bish- 
op, who  commands  also  Giimish-khaneh.  He  was  at  the 
latter  place  during  our  visit,  and  we  failed  of  seeing  him  ; 
but  a  letter  from  him  to  a  protestant  friend  was  shown  us 
afterward,  which  expressed  any  thing  but  a  bigoted  attach- 
ment to  his  church.  We  heard  of  an  Armenian  school  for 
males,  with  about  150  children  ;  but  none  for  females  was 
to  be  found,  though  a  few  females  we  were  told  can  read, 
and  perhaps  they  occasionly  teach  a  few  others. — The 
papal  Armenians  number  from  80  to  90  families,  and  have 
one  church.  They  were  formerly  under  the  Armenians, 
and  their  two  priests  were  banished  at  the  time  of  the  per- 
secution of  their  sect.  One,  however,  remained  in  a 
neighboring  village,  and  he  was  now  in  town.  Their  pub- 
lic services,  as  is  the  case  with  the  papal  Armenians 
generally,  are  in  their  own  ancient  tongue,  and  their  clergy 
are  of  the  Armenian  nation,  educated  at  Venice,  or  in 
mount  Lebanon,  or,  our  informant  added,  at  Mardin.  No 
papal  convent  exists  in  town,  or  in  its  vicinity ;  nor  are 
there  here  any  European  papal  priests. — The  estimate  of 
moslem  families  given  us  varied  from  3500  to  4500.  Yet 
our  best  informants  considered  the  whole  population  of 
Trebizond  to  be  no  more  than  15000  souls.  And  our  own 
impression  was,  that  the  latter  estimate  cannot  be  far  from 
correct. 


324  GREEK   AND    ARMENIAN   MOSLEMS 

The  head  of  the  pashalik  of  which  Trebizond  is  the  cap- 
ital, takes  a  respectable  rank  among  the  pashas  of  the  em- 
pire, and  at  present  bears  the  title  of  ser-asker.  His 
province  now  extends,  we  were  told,  from  Batoom  to  Baf- 
fra  on  the  coast,  and  reaches  far  enough  inward  to  embrace 
Kara-hisar.  Being  inhabited  by  a  variety  of  rude  people, 
and  abounding  in  mountain  fastnesses,  it  formerly  suffered 
much  from  anarchy,  and  was  infested  with  robbers.  In 
the  country,  a  sort  of  nobility  called  dereli-begs,  or  valley- 
lords,  lorded  it  over  the  peasants,  had  constant  feuds  among 
themselves,  and  despised  the  authority  of  the  pasha.  In 
the  city,  assassinations  were  common,  and  perpetrated  with 
impunity.  Even  many  of  the  boldest  assassins  and  leaders 
of  insurrections  in  Constantinople  have  originated  here. 
Of  course  the  capital  is  indebted  to  Trebizond  for  some  of 
its  ablest  men.  One  of  the  highest  officers  in  the  divan 
has  now  a  brother  here,  who  is  a  common  papoochjy, 
or  shoemaker,  in  the  bazar.  The  present  pasha,  though  a 
dervish,  and  of  course  a  bigot,  has  effectually  put  down  or 
destroyed  the  dereh-begs. 

A  majority  of  the  peasants  around  Trebizond,  we  were 
told,  are  of  the  Greek  race  and  speak  the  Greek  language. 
Some  have  been  already  mentioned,  who,  though  still  se- 
cretly Christians,  profess  the  moslem  religion.  In  the  dis- 
trict of  Surmene  also,  near  Oof,  about  6  hours  east  of  Trebi- 
zond, are  many  Greek  moslems.  Of  some  30  or  40  villa- 
ges, perhaps  three  fourths  of  the  inhabitants  were  formerly 
of  the  Greek  church.  But  being  long  ago  reduced  to  des- 
pair by  the  oppression  of  their  Turkish  masters,  they  em- 
braced the  Mohammedan  faith.  They  still  speak  Greek. — 
Among  the  Armenians,  also,  of  whom  there  are  some  in  the 
pashalik  out  of  the  city,  a  considerable  body  profess  Mo- 
hammedanism. The  district  they  inhabit  is  three  or  four 
days  east  of  Trebizond,  in  the  interior  between  Rizeh  and 
Batoom.     It  is  called  Hamshen,  we  were  told,  and  doubt- 


THE    LAZ.  325 

less  it  takes  its  name  from  the  town  of  Hamshen,  formerly 
a  place  of  some  note  in  the  ancient  Armenian  province  of 
Daik.*  Our  informant,  a  papal  Armenian  of  Trebizond, 
estimated  its  population  at  three  or  four  thousand  families, 
inhabiting  70  or  80  villages.  The  greater  part  embraced 
Mohammedanism  some  200  years  ago ;  but  they  still  speak 
Armenian,  and  many  of  their  women  know  no  other  lan- 
guage.— These  are  believed  to  be  unique  cases  in  Turkey, 
where  members  of  a  Christian  nation  have  become  mos- 
lems,  without  being  speedily  so  amalgamated  with  Turks  or 
Arabs,  as  to  lose  sight  of  their  descent  and  forget  their 
national  language.  Long  as  Mohammedans  have  ruled 
over  Greeks  and  Armenians,  national  landmarks  are  yet 
distinctly  to  be  traced,  and  a  body  of  Greek  or  Armenian 
moslems  is  still  an  anomaly.  How  far  might  the  parallel 
be  run  between  their  case  and  that  of  the  Jews  ? 

A  prominent  division  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  pashalik 
are  the  Laz,  or  Lazians.  They  live  east  of  the  city,  along 
the  coast  and  in  the  adjacent  mountains,  bordering  upon 
the  frontier  of  Gooriel.  According  to  the  best  information 
we  could  obtain,  they  have  no  original  language  of  their 
own,  but  speak  a  kind  of  patois,  which  is  a  Mingrelian 
dialect  with  a  large  mixture  of  Turkish.  In  religion  they 
are  moslems,  and  strict  adherents  of  the  sunny  sect.  'But,' 
said  a  Turkish  informant,  '  we  have  a  proverb,  that  as 
among  fruits  the  worst  are  cherdz  (cherries);  so  among 
moslems  the  worst  are  the  Laz.  They  will  at  any  time,' 
he  added,  'kill  a  man  for  an  onion.'  They  are,  in  fact, 
much  despised  by  all  their  neighbors,  and  branded  with 
the  reputation  of  being  robbers,  thieves  and  villains. 

Before  leaving  Trebizond,  I  would  say  a  word  respecting 
its  suitableness  for  a  missionary  station.  Were  one  estab- 
lished, it  would  be  rather  a  mission  to  Greeks,  than  to 
Armenians.     The  large  proportion  of  the  former  in  the 

*  St.  Mart.  vol.  1 :  p.  78. 


326 


PROPOSED    MISSION    AT    TREBIZOND. 


city  and  in  the  country,  you  will  have  learned  from  what 
has  been  already  said.  Whether  a  similar  wakefulness  of 
mind  would  make  them  as  promising  subjects  of  improve- 
ment as  their  countymen  elsewhere,  we  did  not  learn ;  but 
we  may  naturally  suppose  it,  for  they  are  of  genuine  Greek 
descent.  Our  accounts  of  the  existence  of  their  ancestors 
on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Euxine,  as  an  integral  branch 
of  the  Greek  race,  go  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  that  are 
authentic  respecting  Greece  itself.  How  numerous  may 
be  the  relics  of  the  other  Grecian  colonies  along  the  coast 
to  the  westward,  we  did  not  learn.  But  doubtless  mission- 
aries at  Trebizond  might  extend  their  arms  far  and  to 
good  effect  in  that  direction.  At  Gumish-khaneh,  too,  in 
the  interior,  an  important  branch  might  be  established. 
While,  therefore,  you  plant  missions  in  ancient  Attica, 
Argos,  Ionia  and  Byzantium,  let  not  the  descendants  of 
the  Argonauts  be  forgotten. 

In  reference  to  the  Armenians,  too,  Trebizond  would  be 
an  important  station.  Twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  souls  of 
that  people  in  the  city  itself  ought  not  to  be  neglected. 
But  especially  would  it  be  valuable  as  a  key  to  Armenia. 
It  is  the  nearest  port  to  that  country,  and  the  only  one  by 
which  books  and  the  various  apparatus  for  intellectual  and 
moral  improvement  can  be  introduced.  Should  Erzroom 
again  become  the  centre  of  a  numerous  Armenian  popula- 
tion, as  it  doubtless  will,  and  missions  be  established  there 
and  around  it,  Trebizond  must  be  necessarily  occupied  as 
an  intermediate  station.  Nor  will  its  importance  in  a  simi- 
lar relation  be  hardly  less,  to  a  mission  among  the  Nestori- 
ans.  Such  a  mission  will  absolutely  require  an  agent,  ei- 
ther missionary  or  otherwise,  at  this  port.  Its  vicinity  to 
Redoot-kulaah,  the  port  of  Georgia,  and  frequent  commu- 
nications with  it,  might  make  it  important,  also,  in  refer- 
ence to  any  connection  that  may  be  formed  with  the  mis- 
sionaries in  Russian  Armenia.     Nor  perhaps  would  oppor- 


VOYAGE    TO    CONSTANTINOPLE.  327 

tunities  be  wanting  of  sending  out  an  occasional  ray  of 
light  to  all  the  dark  places  around  the  eastern  and  northern 
shores  of  the  Black  sea. — In  reference  to  houses  and  other 
conveniences  for  families,  to  society  and  opportunities  for 
communicating  with  home,  the  little  we  saw  of  it  gave  me 
the  impression,  that  it  would  not  be  far  behind  Beyroot, 
when  that  place  was  first  occupied  by  our  missionaries. 

Our  old  enemy,  the  ague  and  fever,  which  had  visited 
Mr.  Dwight  before  our  departure  from  Tebriz  and  again 
at  Erzroom,  availed  itself  of  our  delay  at  Trebizond  to 
renew  its  attacks  more  violently  upon  us  both,  and  indu- 
ced a  debility,  which,  added  to  the  excessive  tedium  and 
wearisomeness  of  long  journeying  by  land,  made  us  glad  to 
step  upon  the  deck  of  a  vessel  and  be  carried  passively  on 
our  way.  We  embarked  for  Constantinople  on  the  14th  of 
May,  on  board  a  ship  bearing  the  Austrian  flag  and  belong- 
ing to  the  port  of  Cattaro,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  Venice.  Her  master  and  crew  called  themselves 
Ulyrians.  I  had,  on  a  former  voyage,  become  acquainted 
with  some  of  the  same  race  in  sailing  on  board  a  vessel  of 
Ragusa,  a  port  on  the  same  coast  farther  to  the  north,  and 
well  known  in  the  Mediteranean  for  the  number  of  its  ships 
and  the  nautical  taste  and  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants.  They 
were  papists ;  but  our  present  captain  was  of  the  Greek 
church,  and  we  were  interested  to  learn  from  him,  that 
nearly  half  of  his  fellow  citizens  are  of  the  same  faith. 
The  Austrian  government,  he  assured  us,  makes  no  dis- 
tinction between  the  two  in  their  civil  rights  and  privileges. 
Their  language  he  called  Illyrian,  and  said  its  affinity  to 
that  of  the  Russians  is  so  close,  that  the  two  nations  can 
with  little  difficulty  understand  each  other ;  but  it  has  no 
resemblance  to  the  Albanian.  The  books  of  his  church, 
he  assured  us,  are  in  Illyrian,  and  are  the  same  as  the 
Russian ;  to  go  to  a  Russian  church  and  to  one  of  their 
own  is  the  same  thing.      The  whole  eastern  coast  of  the 


323  VOYAGE    TO    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Gulf  of  Venice,  together  with  Bosnia  and  Servia,  is  occu- 
pied, he  said,  by  the  same  Ulyrian  race.  He  owned  the 
ship  of  which  he  was  master,  and  had  grown  old  in  the 
Black  sea  trade. 

We  found  sailing  in  the  Black  sea  very  unpleasant,  ow- 
ing to  the  state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  constant 
changeableness  of  the  force  and  direction  of  the  winds. 
The  sky  was  generally  hazy  and  dark,  and  occasionally 
discharged  violent  showers  of  rain  ;  and  the  wind  would 
vary  almost  instantaneously  from  a  gale  to  a  calm,  and 
change  its  course  as  suddenly.  We  made  the  mouth  of 
the  Bosphorus  at  evening  on  the  24th  of  May,  and  cast 
anchor  opposite  Boyuk-dereh,  to  wait  for  the  light  of  day 
to  conduct  us  to  Constantinople.  In  the  morning  a  light 
north  wind  aided  the  current  in  forwarding  us  onward,  and 
a  clear  sky  advantageously  exhibited  the  exquisite  charms 
of  the  scenery  of  the  Bosphorus,  ever  varying  as  one  view 
after  another  was  disclosed  by  the  windings  of  the  channel, 
until  the  Seraglio  point  with  all  its  splendor  burst  upon  us. 
After  so  long  a  familiarity  with  the  sterile  sunburnt  hills  of 
Persia,  and  the  bleak  mountains  of  Armenia,  followed  by 
the  chilling  fogs  of  the  Euxine,  such  scenes  were  magically 
enchanting — the  pen  refuses  to  portray  the  sensations 
they  excited. 

At  an  early  hour  we  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gold- 
en Horn ;  and  soon  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  again  our 
obliging  countryman  and  friend,  Mr.  Walley,  from  whom 
we  had  parted  at  Scutari  just  a  year  and  four  days  before. 
Compared  with  what  we  had  seen  to  the  east  of  it,  Con- 
stantinople seemed  now  to  stand  high  in  the  scale  of  civili- 
zation ;  to  find  ourselves  again  within  the  reach  of  fellow- 
countrymen  and  friends,  was  highly  gratifying ;  and  not  the 
least  of  our  enjoyments  was  that  of  hearing  again  from  our 
brethren. at  Malta.  Not  a  syllable  had  -reached  us  from 
thence,  nor  from  our  friends  at  home  since  we  were  here 


RETURN    TO    MALTA.  329 

before.  In  my  companion  the  gratification  was  heightened 
by  the  intelligence  of  the  birth  of  a  first-born  son,  now 
several  months  old,  of  whose  existence  he  had  before  had 
no  intimation. 

We  embarked  again  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  touching 
at  Smyrna  on  our  way,  arrived  safely  at  Malta  on  the  2nd 
of  July,  after  an  absence  of  fifteen  months  and  a  half. — The 
Lord  had  delivered  us  from  all  our  fears.  The  forebodings 
of  misgiving  nature  or  of  wavering  faith  had  not  been  real- 
ized. In  the  midst  of  pestilence,  among  barbarous  people, 
and  in  inhospitable  countries,  the  '  angel  of  the  Lord  had 
encamped  around  about  us  for  our  deliverance,'  and  we 
were  brought  back  again  in  peace.  Our  friends  had 
been  equally  protected,  and  now  affectionately  welcomed  us 
again  to  their  bosom.  Letters  awaited  us  from  America, 
also,  and  cheered  us  with  the  most  gratifying  intelligence  of 
what  God  was  doing  for  our  kindred  and  the  churches  of 
our  land.  And  in  the  fullness  of  our  hearts,  we  blessed  the 
Lord,  who  had  'redeemed  our  life  from  destruction,  and 
crowned  us  with  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies.' 

In  view  of  the  extensive  ground  we  have  surveyed,  a 
few  thoughts  arise  with  which  you  will  permit  us  to  close 
the  report  of  our  tour.  Though  our  object  has  been  spe- 
cifically missionary,  we  have  not  refused  to  record,  in  our 
progress,  whatever  of  general  interest  has  passed  under  our 
observation;  but  in  the  end,  our  minds  revert  to  one  sub- 
ject, to  the  neglect  of  every  other,  and  that,  we  doubt  not, 
will  be  equally  prominent  in  your  own  reflections.  It  is  the 
deeply  affecting  spiritual  condition  of  the  people  we  have  vis- 
ited, calling  upon  us  to  labor  for  their  conversion  to  Christ. 

Of  those  people,  the  nominal  Christians  have  engrossed 
the  most  of  our  attention. — To  give  them  the  same  promi- 
nence in  your  own,  we  might  mention  the  name  they  bear 

vol.  ii.  29 


330  CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

— the  same  holy  name  by  which  we  are  called.  It  indi- 
cates an  affinity  of  origin,  of  the  deepest  interest :  for  we 
have  all  sprung  from  the  same  vine ;  they  soon  after  it  was 
planted,  and  some  of  them  perhaps  while  it  was  yet  water- 
ed by  apostolical  hands ;  we  after  '  she  had  sent  out  her 
boughs  unto  the  sea  and  her  branches  unto  the  river/ 
Long  since  indeed  have  they  been  cut  off  for  their  unfruit- 
fulness,  and  cast  out  as  '  an  abominable  branch.'  But  by 
reason  of  this  should  not  our  hearts  be  still  more  deeply 
affected  on  their  account  ?  While  '  the  boar  out  of  the  wood 
doth  waste  it,  and  the  wild  beast  of  the  field  doth  devour 
it;'  ought  we  not  to  be  moved  to  cry  with  the  Psalmist, 
"  Return,  we  beseech  the,  O  God  of  hosts,  look  down  from 
heaven,  and  behold,  and  visit  this  vine  1 "  Is  it  nothing  to 
us  that  through  their  degeneracy  '  the  name  of  God  continu- 
ally every  day  is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  ? '  that 
the  religion  we  hold  so  dear,  is  made  the  hereditary  scorn 
of  Mohammedans  ? 

But,  of  the  considerations  which  above  all  others  deserve 
to  be  named,  the  first  is,  that  they  are  in  a  perishing  state. 
Though  called  Christians,  they  are  all  out  of  the  way,  and 
fatally  so.  Take  the  Armenians,  as  our  report  has  exhib- 
ited them  to  you,  for  an  example.  In  what  do  they  exem- 
plify any  of  the  genuine  characteristics  of  true  religion,  if 
we  know  at  all  what  true  religion  is?  Both  in  their  views 
and  in  their  conduct  we  search  for  them  in  vain.  Look  at 
the  nature  and  manner  of  their  religious  worship,  their 
unscriptural  perversion  of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
their  substituting  a  system  of  salvation  by  external  ceremo- 
nies for  faith  in  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ  and  all  the 
evangelical  doctrines  which  hinge  upon  it,  and  their  at- 
tempts at  posthumous  salvation.  And  add  to  this,  the 
hireling  character  and  debasement  of  the  clergy,  the  ex- 
cessive ignorance  and  degradation  of  the  great  mass  of 


CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS.  331 

the  laity,  and  the  want  of  moral  principle  universally  man- 
ifested in  conduct  immoral  or  vicious.  Surely  if  in  them 
we  are  to  recognize  one  of  the  legitimate  forms  into  which 
genuine  Christianity  may  throw  itself,  too  much  credit  has 
heretofore  been  given  to  the  gospel  as  a  refiner  and  purifier 
of  our  nature. 

The  only  apology  that  can  be  made  for  them  is  the  stale 
one,  which  would  send  to  heaven  in  a  mass  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  who  '  have  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a 
lie' — viz.  that  they  are  sincere.  The  sincerity  of  their  faith 
I  would  most  fully  allow.  Judging  from  its  effects,  we 
may  well  fear  that  it  is  more  sincere  than  that  of  many 
Christians  among  us ;  for  it  has  more  influence  upon  their 
conduct.  But  in  what  are  they  sincere  1  In  believing  that 
they  do  what  is  right?  that  their  daily  conduct  is  pleasing 
to  God  ?  Far  from  it ;  they  know  that  they  do  wrong ; 
that  their  conduct  is  sinful.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  the  fol- 
lowers of  any  false  religion  in  the  world  are  sincere  in  this 
respect.  So  far  as  we  have  had  opportunity  to  analyze 
their  sincerity,  all  are  ready  to  confess  that  in  many  things 
they  offend  God.  They  are  sincere  in  believing  that  their 
superstitious  rites  and  ceremonies  will  cancel  their  sins. 
But  can  such  sincerity  save  them  ?  It  is  the  very  thing 
that  encourages  them  to  indulge  in  sin.  It  makes  them 
feel  secure  in  courses  which  they  know  to  be  wicked.  It 
leads  them  blindfold  to  perdition. 

But,  though  they  are  in  a  perishing  state,  their  rescue  is 
not  to  be  despaired  of.  For,  another  consideration  we 
would  suggest  respecting  them  is,  that  their  reformation  is 
practicable.  It  is  so  because  the  truth  can  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  their  minds.  Christians  in  Mohammedan  coun- 
tries are  accessible  to  missionaries. — In  the  Turkish  empire, 
may  the  missionary  enter  at  every  point  and  labor  among 
them,  with  no  Turkish  ruler  disposed  of  himself  to  hinder  or 


332  CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

make  him  afraid  in  so  doing.  Wherever  he  finds  them, 
may  he  plant  the  standard  of  the  cross,  and  moslems,  if  left 
to  themselves,  will  look  on  with  indifference.  Only  from 
the  Christians  may  opposition  be  expected  to  originate. 
And  thus  far,  we  have  reason  to  bless  God,  that  the  Orien- 
tal churches  have,  with  hardly  an  exception,  been  indis- 
posed to  resort  to  it.  From  papists,  wherever  we  meet 
them,  opposition  is  to  be  expected.  From  them,  it  is  be- 
lieved, has  arisen  all  that  has  been  experienced.  But  they 
are  only  a  few  hundred  thousands,  while  their  Oriental 
brethren  amount  to  millions.  And  the  latter,  wherever  the 
experiment  has  been  tried,  unless  under  papal  influence, 
allow  us  to  instruct  and  enlighten  them  by  schools,  by  cir- 
culating Bibles  and  tracts,  by  religious  conversation,  and 
expounding  the  Scriptures.  Already  are  missions  establish- 
ed among  them  at  several  places  ;  other  places  have  long 
been  known  as  presenting  open  doors  for  us;  and  our 
present  journey  has  added  to  the  number  of  prospective  sta- 
tions, which  can  be  immediately  occupied  to  advantage. — 
We  have  been  led  into  Persia,  also,  and  there  likewise 
have  found  a  field  ripe  for  the  harvest.  In  view  of  what 
has  been  already  said  respecting  the  Nestorians,  we  may 
ask,  what  shall  hinder  us  from  preaching  the  gospel  in 
Persia  also  ?  There  lies,  indeed,  between  it  and  Europe, 
an  inhospitable  tract  of  country  difficult  to  be  passed.  But 
shall  that  be  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  Christian  be- 
nevolence, which  English  travellers  annually  pass,  for 
wealth,  for  honor,  or  for  curiosity?  Let  every  Christian 
blush  for  the  weakness  of  his  love  to  souls  that  will  not 
answer,  No! 

And  when  truth  can  thus  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
mind,  are  we  not,  as  Christians,  bound  to  believe  a 
reformation  to  be  practicable'?  Every  scriptural  ground 
of  discouragement  is  removed.     God's  promises  of  a  bless- 


CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS.  333 

ing  upon  the  preaching  of  his  word  are  made  applica- 
ble ;  and  to  be  discouraged  is  to  want  faith  in  God.  Be 
it  that  obstacles  to  the  triumph  of  truth,  arising  from 
ignorance,  from  prejudice,  or  from  bias  to  sin,  are  exceed- 
ingly great,  yet  so  long  as  the  truth  will  be  heard,  the 
power  of  God  is  pledged  for  its  efficacy.  And  what  other 
encouragement  has  an  evangelical  minister  of  the  gospel 
anywhere  1  He  can  in  no  case  change  the  heart.  It  is 
his  to  use  the  means,  and  look  to  God  by  faith  to  give  them 
efficacy.  Only  one  circumstance  can  clear  the  Christian 
from  the  heavy  charge  of  unbelief  in  being  discouraged 
from  attempting  the  conversion  of  men  in  any  part  of  the 
world ;  and  that  is,  an  impossibility,  from  whatever  cause, 
of  bringing  the  means  of  grace  to  bear  upon  the  mind. 
Nay  more,  the  same  circumstance  alone  can  clear  him 
from  the  heavier  charge  of  disobedience  to  the  command, 
"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  It  was  only  from  those  cities  that  would  not 
receive  nor  hear  them,  that  the  twelve  were  authorized  to 
depart,  shaking  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them. 
Jonah  was  no  more  excusable  for  refusing  to  publish  the 
word  of  the  Lord  in  the  heathen  Nineveh,  than  if  he  had 
been  ordered  to  preach  it  at  Jerusalem.  Oh!  how  many 
like  Jonah  have  there  been  in  the  church,  shrinking  from 
that  obedience  to  the  command  of  their  Savior,  which 
would  long  ere  this  have  carried  her  triumphant  over  every 
false  religion  to  the  final  consummation  of  her  glory  !  Groan- 
ing under  God's  curse  upon  them,  how  often  has  she  been 
tossed  upon  the  billows  of  war  and  persecution,  or,  what  is 
not  a  less  hindrance  to  her  progress,  been  made  to  lie  still 
and  decay  in  the  dead  calm  of  unevangelical  formality ! 
The  remnants  of  her  wreck  are  scattered  through  the 
Mohammedan  empires ;  and  her  motionless  frame  lies  rot- 
ting upon  Christian  Europe  !     May  no  disobedient  Jonahs 


334  CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

bring  curses  like  these  upon  our  American  Zion  !  If  we 
shrink  not  from  our  duty  to  the  world,  she  will  glide  safely 
into  the  haven  of  millennial  rest. 

Another  important  consideration  is,  the  relation  in  which 
these  nominal  Christians  stand  toward  Mohammedans. — 
Their  present  influence  is  exceedingly  to  be  deprecated. 
The  moslem  has  hitherto  known  Christianity  only  as 
the  religion  of  the  Christians  around  him.  And  in  such 
a  position  are  they  placed  by  his  oppressive  laws,  that  in 
all  the  associations  of  his  earlier  and  his  riper  years,  they 
occupy  the  rank  of  despised  inferiors.  Such  too,  I  am  sor- 
ry to  say,  is  their  conduct,  that  he  has  ever  been  able  to 
look  upon  the  comparative  practical  effects  of  their  Christ- 
ianity and  of  his  Mohammedanism  with  self-congratulation. 
Never  in  the  course  of  their  history,  have  Mohammedans 
been  brought  in  contact  with  any  form  of  Christianity  that 
was  not  too  degenerate  in  its  rites,  its  doctrines,  and  its  ef- 
fects to  be  worthy  of  their  esteem.  Preach  to  him  Christ- 
ianity, therefore,  and  the  moslem  understands  you  to  invite 
him  to  embrace  a  religion  which  he  has  always  regarded  as 
beneath  him,  and  as  less  beneficial  than  his  own. 

But  their  influence  may  be  made  to  be  as  salutary  as  it  is 
now  deleterious.  Indeed  the  missionary,  when  he  sees  the 
pecuniary  oppressions,  civil  disabilities  and  systematic  con- 
tempt, to  which,  after  centuries  of  unshaken  endurance,  they 
still  perse veringly  submit  for  their  religion,  when  a  profes- 
sion of  Mohammedanism  would  at  any  moment  bring  relief 
from  them  all ;  and  is  led  to  wonder  at  the  stedfastness 
with  which  they  have  clung  to  the  mere  form  of  re- 
ligion so  long  after  they  have  lost  its  power ;  will  perceive 
in  it  the  orderings  of  a  wise  Providence,  that  a  door  might 
be  kept  open  through  which  missionaries  may  enter,  and 
plant  the  standard  of  the  cross  in  the  centre  of  the  other- 
wise impenetrable  bulwarks  within  which  Mohammedanism 


CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS.  335 

has  intrenched  itself.  If  corrupt  forms  of  Christianity  have 
prejudiced  moslems  against  it,  and  the  ungodly  lives  of  its 
professors  give  them  complacency  in  their  own  corruptions, 
present  to  them  Christianity  in  its  purity,  exemplified  in  lives 
of  piety,  and  their  apology  for  rejecting  it  must  vanish;  the 
glory  of  their  own  religion  must  be  turned  into  shame. 
Let  every  missionary  station  raise  up  from  the  corrupt  mass 
of  nominal  Christians  around  it,  a  goodly  number  of  true 
followers  of  the  Lamb,  and  it  will  be  a  city  set  on  a  hill 
which  cannot  be  hid,  a  light  to  lighten  the  gentiles  also. 
Had  the  churches  of  the  East  remained  as  when  the  apos- 
tles planted  them,  how  long  since  would  Mohammedanism 
have  shrunk  away  from  their  holy  contact?  Or  rather, 
would  it  have  ever  existed  1  Restore  to  them  their  primi- 
tive purity,  therefore,  and  the  prop  upon  which  Mohammed- 
anism has  so  long  stayed  itself  is  gone,  and  it  must  fall. 
Remove  it  from  the  darkness,  where  like  an  unsightly- 
weed  it  has  grown  so  rankly,  into  the  noontide  blaze  of 
true  religion,  and  it  must  wither  and  die. 

Our  encouragement  is,  that  while  'the  god  of  this  world' 
has  so  carefully  defended  this  strong  citadel  of  his  dominions 
on  every  other  side,  he  has  here  left  open  a  point  of  attack. 
Mohammedan  law  denounces  death  without  mercy  upon 
every  apostate  from  Mohammedanism ;  and  wherever  that 
law  is  in  force,  direct  attempts  to  make  proselytes  may  nat- 
urally be  regarded  as  highly  objectionable.  But  by  laboring 
among  Christians,  we  gain  an  easy  entrance  into  the  heart 
of  our  enemy's  territory.  And  if  the  victory  over  the  false 
prophet  is  to  be  one  of  the  most  glorious  in  the  final  tri- 
umphs of  the  Lamb,  should  not  we  deem  'ourselves  happy 
in  being  able  to  engage  thus  early  and  advantageously  in 
the  contest,  perhaps  hard  and  long,  from  which  it  is  to 
result  ?  How  different  would  have  been  the  prospect  had 
Mohammedans   exterminated  instead  of  tolerating  Chris- 


336  CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

tianity,  in  the  regions  which  they  conquered !  To  be 
sensible  of  the  contrast,  look  along  the  whole  coast  of 
northern  Africa,  where  the  flock  once  fed  by  Augustines 
and  Cyprians  has  so  long  been  extinct,  and  a  few  foreigners 
and  Jews  are  now  the  only  tangible  population.  The  bear- 
ing of  our  labors  in  Western  Asia  upon  Mohammedanism, 
increases  inconceivably  their  importance  ;  and  we  look  with 
intense  interest  upon  every  new  station  that  is  formed,  as 
an  additional  intrenchment  thrown  up  against  the  armies 
of  the  false  prophet. 


NOTE. 


The  value  of  foreign  denominations  of  money,  and  meas- 
ures of  distance  is  generally  explained  in  the  body  of  the 
work,  where  their  names  first  occur.  The  reader,  however, 
may  be  liable  to  forget  the  explanations  as  he  proceeds  ;  and 
it  has  therefore  been  thought  best  to  arrange  them  in  the  fol- 
lowing table,  for  the  sake  of  easy  reference. 

To  prevent  mistake,  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  the 
rate  of  exchange  is  liable  to  great  and  constant  variations  in 
Turkey.  The  Spanish  Dollar  was  worth  15£  Piastres  when 
we  landed  at  Smyrna,  and  that  rate  is  made  the  basis  of  the 
following  calculations.  But  the  estimates  thus  formed  would 
not  express  the  true  value  of  Turkish  money  a  year  before, 
nor  at  the  present  time. 

A  tabular  view  is  subjoined,  of  the  estimated  distances  be- 
tween the  principal  places  visited  during  the  journey,  beyond 
Constantinople.  It  is  calculated  from  minutes  which  were 
kept  of  the  length  of  each  stage  as  it  was  travelled,  and  of 
course  does  not  aim  at  perfect  accuracy.  If  two  of  the  dis- 
tances, which  were  passed  over  twice,  be  doubled,  it  gives 
the  estimated  length  of  the  whole  journey. 

MONEY. 

Para,  the  smallest  coin  of  Turkey,       -         -        about  £  ct. 
Piastre  (40  paras),  the  present  unit  in  Turkish 

currency,         -        -         -         -         -         -         ff        6^  cts. 

Silver  Rouble  or  Manet,  the  Russian  dollar,         "      75    Cf 
Ducat,  a  gold  coin  of  Russia,  equal  to  the  ducat 

of  Holland,      ------         "2,25    Cf 

vol.  ii.  30 


338  NOTE. 

Abbas,  a  silver  coin  of  Tiflis,        >  _         _  about  15  cfcg 
Penabad,         do.              Shoosha,   $ 

Shahy,  a  Persian  denomination,  -  -         -         "        1&  <c 

Sahib-koran,  a  Persian  silver  coin,  -         -     "      30    " 

Real,                      do.                do.  -         -         "35    " 

Toman,  a  Persian  gold  coin,             -  -         -     "  3,00    " 

MEASARES    OP    DISTANCE. 

miles. 
Hour  of  Turkey,  --__-_     about  3 

Verst  of  Russia,      -         -         -         -         --         -"§ 

Fursakh,  or  Aghaj  of  Persia,         -         -         -         -         "4 

DISTANCES    TRAVELLED. 

miles. 
From  Constantinople  to  Tokat  -  474 

From  Tokat  to  Erzroom  -                                          300 

From  Erzroom  to  Kars          -  -             -             -         108 

From  Kars  to  Tiflis         -  1S2 

From  Tiflis  to  Shoosha          -  -            -                      120 

From  Shoosha  to  Nakhchevan  -             -                 124 

From  Nakhchevan  to  Echmiadzin  96 

From  Nakhchevan  to  Khoy  -                                              50 

From  Khoy  to  Tebriz  88 

From  Tebriz  to  Oormiah  -                                            120 

From  Tebriz  to  Bayezeed     -  164 

From  Bayezeed  to  Erzroom  -..'"--                 147 

From  Erzroom  to  Trebizond  -            -                      219 
Making  the  whole  distance  travelled  by  land  after 

leaving  Constantinople  -                                          2408 


INDEX. 

[Including  a  glossary  of  foreign  words. 


Abbas  Mirza,  character  and  government  of,  ii.  148. 

Abgar,  conversion  of,  i.  21. 

Absolution,  Armenian,  ii.  108 — Nestorian,  ii.  237,  259. 

Aderbaijan,  province  of  Persia,  ii.  143 — Ex-bishop  of,  ii.  63 — Armen- 
ians of,  ii.  151 — Emigration  from,  ii.  62— Moslems  of,  ii.  163. 

A  g  ho  vans,  or  Albanians,  account  of,  i.  282. 

Aghtamar,  Catholicos  of,  i.  37,  56.  ii.  186. 

Agn,  orthodox  Armenians  of,  ii.  274. 

Agriculture,  mode  of,  i.  178.  ii.  20,  88,  179,  184. 

Akhaltsikhe,  brief  account  of,  i.  173. 

Ak-hisar,  or  Thyatira,  i.  49. 

Albanians,  see  Aghovdns. 

Alphabet,  Armenian,  i.  25 — Georgian,  i.  236- -Nestorian,  ii.  212. 

Amasia,  i.  91. 

Ararat,  mount,  i.  15,  ii.  73,  80,  86,  270. 

Aras,  or  Araxes,  bridge   over,  i.  141 — valley  of,  ii.  79. 

Ardashad,  or  Artaxata,  i.  19.  ii.  85. 

Ardisher,  ruins  of  Tovin  at,  ii.  86. 

Ardzroonies,  origin  of,  i.  18 — reign  in  Vasbooragan,  i.  30™in  Sebaste, 
i.  102. 

Armenia,  position  of,  i.  14 — provinces  of,  i.  15 — boundaries  of,  i.  114, 
196,  260.     ii.  142,  185— ecclesiastical  capital  of,  i.  36,  40.  ii.  94. 

Armenia  Minor,  extent  and  divisions  of,  i.  17—-proposed  mission  in, 
i.  101. 

Armenians,  origin  and  history  of,  i.  16 — scattered,  i.  41 — appearance  of, 
i.  140 — mercantile  character  of,  i.  212 — number  of,  ii.  122. 

Astrakhan,  Armenian  diocese  of,  i.  223. 


340  INDEX. 

Baking,  mode  of  in  Armenia,  ii.  40,  70. 

Bakoo,  i.  246, 285. 

Baptism,  by  papal  missionaries,  i.  255 — Armenian  mode  and  doctrine  of,  ii. 

125, 126—Nestorian  do.  ii.  227,  236,  248. 
Bayezeed,  ii.  270. 
Berdaah,  remains  of,  i.  272. 
Bessarabia,  Armenian  diocese  of,  i.  217. 
Black  sea,  sailing  in,  ii.  328. 
Boundaries,  of  Turkey  and  Russia,  i.  177— of  Russia  and  Persia,  ii.  135 

—of  Persia  and  Turkey,  ii.  269. 
Bread,  form  of  in  Armenia,  ii.  40. 
Bridges,  natural,  ii.  23,  317. 
Buffaloes,  habits  of,  i.  77. 

Caminiec,  Armenian  Colony  of,  i.  218. 

Caravan-serai,  a  caravan-palace,  see  Khan. 

Carnival,  Armenian,  ii.  231. 

Carts,  description  of,  in  Armenia,  i.  117. 

Castor  oil,  use  of,  in  lamps,  ii.  78. 

Catholicos,  Armenian,  at  Echmiadzin ;  his  festival,  ii.  Ill — origin  of 

his  see,  i.  40 — his  clerical  rank,  ii.  31 — general  account  of,  ii.  114 — (See 

Aghtamdr,  Kdntsasar,  and  Sis,) — Georgian,  i.  237,  243 — Imire- 

tian,\.  249— Nestorian,  ii.  203,  222,  238. 
Caucasus,  independent  tribes  of,  i.  250 — missions  in,  i.  252. 
Cemeteries,  Armenian,  i.  128. 
Ceremonial  purity,  Armenian  and  moslem  ideas  of,  ii.  81— in  Persia, 

ii.  169,  172,  183,   285. 
Chai,  a  river. 
Chaldeans,  visit  to,  in  Saunas,  ii.  186 — in  Oormiah,  ii.  246- -argument 

with,  ii.  250. 
Cholera,  ravages  of,  i.  262,  269,  275. 
Christmas,  time  of,  among  die  Armenians,  ii.  156— among  the  Nestorians, 

ii.  249, 
Church,  Armenian,  origin  of,  i.  21,  23.  ii.  290— heresy  of,  i.  27.  ii.  275 

— divisions  of,    i.  36,  40 — officers  of,  see    Clergy — lay  influence   in, 

i.  63.  ii.  43 — services  of,  i.  180 — sacraments  of,  ii.  126 — established  in 

Turkey,  See  Patriarch — how  assimilated  to  the  papal  church  ii.  290 — 

capitals  of,  see  Catholicos. 
Church-books,  Armenian,  i.  181  note— Chaldean,  ii.  191— Nestorian,  ii. 

213  note,  256,  259. 
Churches,  Armenian,  description  of,  i.  152,  180,  225.  ii.  96— Nestorian, 

ii.  210. 
Cilicia,  Armenian  kingdom  in,  i.  34. 
Circumcision,  rejected  by  the  Nestorians,  ii.  228. 


INDEX.  341 

Clergy,  Armenian,  orders  of,  ii.  29 — monastic,  id. — parochial,  ii.  42— 
Nestorian,  general  account  of,  ii.  221,  238,  245,  255,  260 — Moslem, 

i.  291. 
Climate,  of  Erzroorn,  i.  136 — of  Kars,  i.  162 — of  Gerger,  i.  190,  193, 

195— change  of  on  entering  Georgia,  i.  196— of  Tiflis,  i.  205 — in  Kara- 

bagh,  ii.  54— from  Tebriz  to  Chiftlik,  ii.  309— of  Trebizond,  ii.  322. 
Coffee-house,  Turkish,  description  of,  i.  52. 
Colchis,  view  of,  i.  246. 

Colonies,  mission,  reason  of,  in  Russia,  i.  301—see  German. 
Comana  Pontica,  site  of,  i.  103,  99  note. 

Communion,  Armenian,  ii.  103— Nestorian,  ii.  229,  237,  247,  251,  262. 
Confession,  Armenian,  ii.  105— Nestorian,  ii.  226,  237,  247,  250,  259. 
Confirmation,  not  practised  by  the  Mingrelians,  i.  249 — nor  by  the  Nes- 

torians,  ii.  227,  228 — how  performed  among  the  Armenians,  ii.  126. 
Consecration  of  churches,  a  Nestorian  sacrament,  ii.  231,  236. 
Constantinople,  arrival  at,  i.  53 — residence  at,  i.  71 — climate  of,  i,  72 

— why  called  Istambool,  i.  75  note. 
Convents,  Armenian,  account  of,  ii.  28 — Nestorian,  ii.  223,  246. 
Cossacks,  character  of,  i.  192 — stations  of,  i.  197. 
Costume,  change  of,  on  leaving  Turkey,  i.  179 — variety  of,  in  Tiflis,  i.  206 

— of  the  Nestorian  clergy,  ii.  245. 
Cotton,  cultivation  of,  ii.  58,  78 — how  cleaned,  ii.  248. 
Creed,  Armenian,  i.  182 — Nicene,  ii.  98. 
Cross,  Armenian  adoration  of,  i.  157.  ii.  112,  128 — sign  of,  i.  159.  ii.  27 

— Nestorian  veneration  of,  ii.  210,  255 — sign  of,  ii.  225. 
Cyrus,  river,  see  Koor. 

Dagh,  a  mountain. 

Datev,  river  of,  ii.  22,  56 — convent  of,  ii.  24,  28 — village  of,  ii.  39. 
Derbend,  a  guard-house,  i.  95 — town  of,  i.  246,  2S5.  ii.  68. 
Dervish,  a  moslem  devotee. 
Dioceses,  Armenian,  number  of,  ii.  122. 

Dishonesty  of  moslems  and  Armenians,  i.  213,  290.  ii.  10,  153,  168. 
Divorces,  moslem,  i.  289 — Armenian,  ii.  51 — Nestorian,  ii.231. 
Domestic  state  and  manners  of  moslems,  i.  135,  289.  ii.  70*— of  Armen- 
ians, i.  293.  ii.  50— of  Nestorians,  ii.  248— of  Kurds,  ii.  300. 

Echmiadzin,  visit  to,  ii.  92— influence  of,  i.  321. 

Education,  Armenian,  earliest  notices  of,  i.  25— view  of  the  present 
state  of,  i.  293 — how  esteemed,  i.  294.  ii.  13,  81 — no  improvements  in, 
i.  65,  219— in  convents,  ii.  34— in  Georgia,  i.  210,  243— in  Colchis, 
i.  249— Moslem,  in  the  Russ.  prov.  i.  288,  308— in  Persia,  ii.  164— 
Chaldean,  ii.  190— Nestorian,  ii.  220,  240,  246— no  means  of,  ii.  256, 
VOL.  II.  31 


342  INDEX. 

El  Koosh,  infected  with  papacy,  ii.  206,  219,  242. 

Emigration,  Armenian,  from  Turkey;  Turkish  account  of,   i.  132 — 

effects  of,  i.  142— Armenian  account  of,  i.  120,  147.  ii.  274,  289— facts 

respecting,  i.  164 — appearance  of  emigrants,  i.  140 — fromPersia,  ii.  62. 
English,  reputation  of  in  Armenia,  i.  145 — embassy  in  Persia,  ii.  142. 
Erivan,  ii.  89. 

Erzroom,  visits  to,  i.  124.  ii.  303 —  sanjaks  in  the  pashalik  of,  ii.  309. 
Eucharist,  Nestorian,  ii.  228,  237,  247,  259,  260 — Armenian,  see  Mass. 
Euphrates,  northern  branch  of,  i.  115,  122.  ii.  307 — eastern  branch  of, 

ii.  172. 
Extreme  unction,  not  practised  in  Colchis,  i.  249—nor  by  the  Nestori- 

ans,  ii.  227,  236«-when  performed  by  the  Armenians,  ii.  127 — when 

introduced,  ii.  294. 

Faith,  Armenian  idea  of,  ii.  124. 

Fasts,  Armenian,  rules  respecting,  i.  155 — practice  respecting,  ii.  49,  S7 

— Moslem,  see  Ramadan — Nestorian,  ii.  208,  235,  249. 
Female   education,  Armenian,  i.  294,  314 — moslem,  i.  288.  ii.  165 — 

Georgian,  i.  243— Nestorian,  ii.  220. 
Fire-worshipers,  under  the  Sassanidee,  i.  24— -now  extant,  i.  285. 
Food,  of  Armenian  peasants,  ii.  49 — of  Kurds,  ii.  300.  | 
Fruit,  want  of  in  western  Armenia,  i.  136,  195 — kinds  of  on  the  Aras,  ii. 

61,  90— in  Aderbaijan,  ii.  194 — in  the  mountains  of  Pontus,  ii.  312 — 

at  Trebizond,  ii.  320. 
Fuel  of  Armenia,  i.  121.  ii.  SO. 

Ganjeh,  i.  245,  270,  286. 

Georgia,  extent  and  divisions  of,  i.  234 — climate  of,  i.  196,  205 — Armen- 
ians of,  i.  221. 
Georgians,  origin  and  history  of,  i.  233 — present  number  and  condition 

of,  i.  241 — church  of,  its  origin,  i.  236 — present  state  of,  i.  243. 
German  colonies,  i.  264,  230 — mission  at  Shoosha;    residence   at,   i, 
276 — general   account  of,  i.  301 — effort  of,  in  Turkey,  i.  137 — among 
the  Kurds,  ii.  83. 
Government,  of  the  trans- Caucasian  provinces,  i.  209 — of  Persia,  ii. 

149,  177, 190,  242. 
Greeks,  iu  Turkish  Armenia,  i.  130,  146,  152 — in  the  Russian  provinces, 

i.  199— in  Pontus,  ii.  313,  316,  323. 
Gregory,  the  Illuminator  of  the  Armenians,  i.  23— veneration  of,  ii.  83. 
Guebres;  see  Fire-worshipers. 
Gumish-khaneh,  ii.  315. 
Gymnasium,  Armenian,  at  Moscow,  i.  224. 

Haji  seid,  sickness  at,  ii.  140. 


INDEX.  343 

Hakary,  a  country  in  Kurdistan,  ii.  217,  253. 

HIsar,  a  fortification. 

Honey,  poisonous,  of  Trebizond,  ii.  317. 

Hospitality,  rare  instances  of,  ii.  53, 287 — pretended,  i.  109, 121— want 

of  in  Persia,  ii.  57,  179, 182,  185. 
Houses,  under-ground,  i.  268 — of  mud,  ii.  61,  145 — of  a  prince,  ii.  18 — 

of  an  Armenian,  ii.  40 — of  a  moslem,  ii.  70 — of  a  Nestorian,  ii.  248. 

Illyrians,  facts  respecting,  ii.  327. 

Image-worship,  practised  by  the  Armenians,  i.  229.  ii.  112 — rejected 

by'the  Nestorians,  ii.  213,  236,  252. 
Indulgences,  rejected  by  the  Armenians,  ii.  163. 
Intemperance,  moslem,  i.  82.  ii.  171 — Armenian,  i.  188— Georgian,  i. 

215— Chaldean,  ii.  199. 
Isnikmid,  or  Nicomedia,  i.  75. 

Jerusalem,  Armenian  patriarchate  of,  i.  40,  62.  Armenian  convent  of  St- 
James  at,  i.  45,  63.  ii.  120. 

Jews,  at  Akhaltsikhe,  i.  173 —  in  Colchis  and  Georgia,  i.  247— in  the  re- 
gion of  Armenia,  ii.  66 — in  Persia,  ii.  195. 

Kantsasar,  catholicos  of,  i.  281. 

Kara,  black. 

Kara-bagh,  i.  279,281. 

Kars,  plain  of,  i.  151,  175— city  of,  i.  162. 

Keleeseh,  a  church,  ii,  268. 

Ket-khoda,  or  Kdkhia,  a  majordomo,  literally  a  lord  of  a  village. 

Khan,  or  caravan-serai,  description  of,  i.  131.  ii.  58. 

Khar  a  j,  a  capitation  tax  paid  in  Turkey  by  those  vjho  are  not  moslems. 

Khor-virab,  place  of  St  Gregory's  imprisonment,  ii.  84. 

Khoy,  plain  of,  ii.  137— city  of,  ii.  138,  266. 

Kochannes,  residence  of  Mar  Shimon,  ii.  217,  253. 

Kooba,  i.  246,  285.  ii.  68. 

Koor,  river  of,  i.  204— valley  of,  i.   261,  271. 

KoY,  a  village. 

Kulaah,  a  fortress. 

Kurds  of  Kara-bagh,  ii.  82 — Scriptures  for,  ii.  189 — boundaries  of  their 

country,  ii.  267,  301 — incivility  of,  ii.  273— predatory  habits  of,  ii.  282 

— treatment  by,  at  Dahar,  ii.  299. 

Language  of  moslems  in  the  Russian  provinces,  i.  28S,  308 — of  the  Ar- 
menians, i.  29S — of  the  Persians,  ii.  163 — of  the  Nestorians,  ii.  211, 
241,  250. 

Laz,  character  of,  ii.  325. 


344  INDEX. 

Leaven,  sacred,  a  Nestorian  sacrament,  ii.  228,  236. 

Leopol,  Armenian  colony  of,  i.  218  note. 

Libraries,  private,  moslem,  i.  289 — Armenian,  i.  298 — in  convents,  ii.  28, 

131 — none  among  the  Nestorians,  ii.  256. 
Lying,  among  Armenians  and  moslems,  ii.  9 — Nestorians,  ii.  244. 

Magoo,  ii.  82. 

Maize,  cultivation  of,  ii.  319. 

Manuscripts,  Georgian,  i.  236  note — Nestorian,  ii.  256. 

Mar  Shimon,  Nestorian  patriarch,  ii.  207- -see  Patriarch. 

Marriage,  Georgian,  early,  i.  242 — Armenian,  age  required,  ii.  51 — 
prohibited  degrees  of  affinity,  ii.  36 — of  the  clergy,  ii.  29,  43 — a  sacra- 
ment, ii.  126— Nestorian,  ii.  231 — of  the  clergy,  ii.  222,  259. 

Mass,  Armenian,  description  of,  ii.  97 — duty  of  priests,  ii.  45 — for  the 
dead,  i.  171 — Nestorian,  see  Eucharist. 

Mediators,  acknowledged  by  the  Armenians,  i.^184,  324,  ii.  15 — by  the 
Nestorians,  ii.  214. 

Meiron,  consecrated  oil,  ii.  118,  127. 

Melik,  an  Armenian  prince,  ii.  19,  86. 

Menzil-khaneh,  a  post-house. 

Mihmandar,  management  of,  ii.  267,  269. 

Mills,  floating,  at  Tiflis,  i.  205. 

Mises,  salt,  in  Armenia,  ii.  66 — silver,  at  Giimish-khaneh,  ii.  314. 

Missions,  conversations  respecting,  i.  222.  ii.  27,  130,  242 — in  mount 
Caucasus,  i.  252 — proposals  respecting,  at  Tokat,  i.  101 — in  the  Russ. 
prov.  i.  327 — in  Persia,  ii.  263 — at  Trebizond,  ii.  325 — why  not  at 
Erzroom.  ii.  306 — concluding  reflections  respecting,  in  Western  Asia, 
ii.  329 — of  the  Russians,  i.  223,  253 — see  German,  and  Papal. 

Mohammedanism,  account  of,  in  the  Russian  provinces,  i.  290 — temporal 
influence  of,  i.  78. 

Mollah,  title  of  a  moslem  priest. 

Monophysitism  of  tlie  Armenians,  i.  27.  ii.  274. 

Morals,  in  Georgia,  i.  211 — in  Colchis;  249— among  moslems,  r.  290 — 
among  Armenians,  ii.  152 — in  convents,  ii.  33. 

Mosks,  visit  to,  in  Erzroom,  ii.  304. 

Moslems,  of  the  Greek  nation,  ii.  324 — of  the  Armenian  nation,  id. — ac- 
count of,  in  theRuss.  provinces,  i.  286 — missions  among,  i.  137,  306 — 
good  works  of,  i.  86.  ii.  298— see  Persians,  and  Turks. 

Mutsellim,  a  governor  of  a  city. 

Nakhchevan,  ii.  60. 

Nargeely,  a  Turkish  water-pipe. 

Nerses  Shnorhaliji  i.  159  note — former  archbishop  of  Tiflis,  i.  216. 


INDEX.  345 

Nestorians,  history  of,  ii.  201 — visit  to,  in  Oormiah,  ii.  207 — name  of, 
ii.  215,  242 — number  of,  see  Patriarch— how  received  by,  ii.  233,  234, 
244 — political  condition  of,  ii.  242,  255,  258— in  the  mountains  of 
Kurdistan,  ii.  217,  253 —  emigrants  on  the  Terter,  i.  273. 

Nicomedia,  see  Isnikmid. 

Niksar,  or  Neocesarea,  i.  104. 

Nomads,  in  the  valley  of  the  Koor,  i.  286 — in  Persia,  ii.  164— customs  of. 
ii.  282— see  Kurds. 

Nooni,  St.  ii.  92,  i.  236. 

Nunneries,  Armenian,  i.  221,  281,  ii,  38 — Nestorian,  ii.  246. 

Oil,  consecrated,  a  Nestorian  sacrament,  ii.  231,  236 — see  Meiron. 
Oodi,  supposed  remains  of,  i.  272. 

Oormiah,  lake  of,  ii.  183— plain  of,  ii.  233,  254— town  of,  ii.  243. 
Oppression,  of  the  Armenians,  i.  144,  152 — of  the  Nestorians,  see  Nes- 

torians. 
Ordination,  Armenian,  ii.  31,  117,  159— Nestorian,  ii.  221,  239,  259. 
Orpelians,  origin  of,  i.  235 — family  of,  now  at  Datev,  ii.  24. 
Orthodox  Armenians,  ii.  274— Syrians,  ii.  275  note — Nestorian  ideas  of 

the  twelve  sects,  ii.  230,  239. 
Ovens,  see  Tannoor. 
Oxen,  used  as  beasts  of  burden,  ii.  88.  i.  161. 

Pakradians,  origin  of,  i.  19 — reign  in  Armenia,  i.  29 — reign  in  Georgia, 
i.  237 — a  descendant  of,  now  in  Persia,  ii.  192. 

Papal  Armenians,  persecuted  in  Turkey,  i.  60.  ii.  289 — now  establish- 
ed, i.  60 — present  number  of,  in  the  region  of  Armenia,  ii.  288,  290. 

Papal  Missions,  in  Armenia,  formerly  seated  at  Erzroom,  i.  129---extinct 
at  Kars,  i.  173 — view  of  in  Georgia,  at  Akhaltsikhe,  and  in  Imireti,  i. 
253 — in  mount  Caucasus,  i.  252 — extinct  in  Mingreli,  i.  255 — and  in 
Shirwan,  i.  321 — also  at  Nakhchevan  and  Erivan,  ii.  62,  91 — languish- 
ing in  Persia,  ii.  191 — remains  of,  at  Mollah  Soleiman,  ii.  288. 

Papists,  influence  of,  upon  missions,  i.  321 — upon  the  Armenian  church, 
ii.  293 — how  regarded  by  the  Nestorians,  ii.  240,  250. 

Pasha,  a  governor  of  a  Turkish  province. 

Pashalik,  aprovince  governed  by  a  pashd. 

Pasin,  statistics  of,  i.  146. 

Patriarch,  Armenian,  of  Constantinople;  origin  of  his  see,  i.  40 — gene- 
ral view  of,  i.  53 — see  Jerusalem — Chaldean,  ii.  187,188 — JVestorian, 
origin  and  residence  of,  ii.  203,  205 — Mar  Elias,  a  papist,  see  El 
Koosh — Mar  Shimon,  origin  of,  ii.  206 — visit  his  flock,  ii.  207 — num- 
ber of  Nestorians  subject  to  him,  ii.  218 — inaccessible,  ii.  242. 

Penance,  Armenian,  ii.  161 — see  Confession. 

Persians,  tribes  of,  ii.  163— character  of,  ii.  165. 
VOL.  II.  31* 


346  INDEX. 

Piety,  want  of  among  the  Armenians,  i.  312. 

Pilgrimages,  ii.  109. 

Pledge,  custom  of,  ii.  10. 

Ploughs,  description  of,  i.  178,  ii.  88. 

Post  establishment,  Turkish,  i.  Ill— Russian,  i.   174,  197 — post-houses,  i. 

197,  271— post-wagons,  i.  200. 
Preaching,  Armenian,  duty  of  vartabeds,  ii.  30,  33 — not  of  priests,  ii. 

45— character  of,  i.  223.  ii.  37 — instances  of,  i.  324,  157 — Nestorian, 

ii.  221,  241. 
Printing  presses,  Armenian,  at  Constantinople,  i.  67— at  Tiflis,  i.  220 

— at  Astrakhan,  i.  224 — at  Moscow,  i.  225— general  view  of,  i.  297 — 

missionary,  i.  318. 
Purgatory,  see  Spirits. 
Purification,  festival  of,  ii.  155. 

Quarantine,  pretended,  ii.  161,  274 — mode  of  at  Gerger,  i.  190. 

Ramadan,  a  Mohammedan  lunar  month  devoted  to  fasting,  ii.  172, 
177. 

Rayah,  a  name  given  to  all  subjects  of  Turkey  who  are  not  Moham- 
medans, literally  a  flock. 

Republic,  ideas  respecting,  ii.  14. 

Regeneration,  Armenian  ideas  of,  ii.  125 — Nestorian  do.  ii.  225,  236. 

Rice,  cultivation  of  in  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  ii.  78. 

Robbers,  a  resort  of,  i.  115.  ii.  308 — precautions  against,  ii.  267,  271. 

Russians,  first  view  of,  i.  122 — invasion  and  battles  of,  in  Turkey,  i.  124, 
150 — their  soldiery,  i.  192 — manner  of  their  occupyingGeorgia,  i.  240 
— the  valley  of  the  Koor,  i.  245 — and  Colchis,  i.  247— police  of,  i.  207 
provincial  government  of,  i.  209 — influence  of,  i.  210. 

Sabbath,  observance  of  at  Tiflis,  i.  231 — by  the  Armenians,  i.  179.  ii. 

55,  114— when  begin,  ii.  130,  209. 
Sacraments,  Armenian,  ii.  126 — Nestorian,  ii.  226,  236. 
Sacrifices,  moslem,  i.  97 — Armenian,  i.  172 — of  the  mass,  ii.  102 — 

Nestorian,  ii.  216. 
Saints,  Armenian,  relics  of,  ii.  92 — see  Mediators,  Gregory,  and  Virgin 

Nestorian  veneration  of,  ii.  214,  236 — a  moslem  saint,  i.  79. 
S almas,  plain  of,  ii.  185,  193— city  of,  ii.  194. 
Salvation,  Armenian  ideas  of  the  conditions  and  way  of,  ii.  125,  160 — 

Nestorian  do.  ii.  225. 
Sanjak,  a  district  or  division  of  a  pashalik,  literally  a  banner. 
School-books,  Armenian,  i.  65,  100  296,  318. 
Schools,  Armenian,    at  Smyrna,  i.  45 — at  Constantinople,  i.  65 — at 

Tokat,  i.  100 — at  Erzroom,  Kars,  and  Bayezeed  discontinued,  i.  128, 


INDEX.  347 

167,  ii.  270 — at  Tiflis — i.  218 — general  view  of,  in  Armenia,  i.  295 — 
at  Tebriz,  ii.  154 — at  Trebizond,  ii.  223 — of  the  Sboosha  mission,  i. 
314— Moslem,  i.  288,   ii.  80,  165— Nestorian,    ii.  220,  240,  246. 

Scriptures,  how  received  by  Turks  and  Persians,  i.  137,  ii.  170 — few 
among  the  Armenians,  i.  319— fewer  among  the  Nestorians,  ii.  256 — 
how  regarded  by  Armenians,  i.  313 — by  Nestorians,  ii.  252 — transla- 
tions of,  i.  319,  ii.  189. 

Serope,  bishop  of  Astrakhan,  i.  222. 

Shamkor,  ancient  pillar  at,  i.  269. 

Sheet,  a  heretical  moslem,  of  the  sect  of  Aly  dominant  in  Persia. 

Sheky,  i.  246,  284. 

Shepherds,  see  Nomads. 

Shir  wan,  i.  246,  284,  2S6. 

Shoosha,  delay  at,  i.  274 — description  of,  i.  279 — siege  of,  i.  305. 

Simony,  Armenian,  ii.  36,  118— Nestorian,  ii.  223,  238. 

Sis,  Armenian  Catholicos  of,  i.  36,  40,  55. 

Sivas,  brief  account  of,  i.  102. 

Slave-trade,  in  Georgia  and  Colchis,  i.  174,  242,  249. 

Smyrna,  i.  44. 

Spirits  of  the  dead,  Armenian  doctrine  and  practice  respecting,  i.  167, 
ii.  276— Nestorian  do,  ii.  215,  250. 

Springs,  mineral,  i.  114,  123,  139, 189,  205,  ii.  317. 

Stables,  description  of,  i.  118— lodging  in,  i.  146,  179,  ii.  137,  288— 
sickness  in,  ii.  140. 

Sunik,  diocese  of,  ii.  25. 

Sunny,  an  orthodox  moslem,  of  the  sect  dominant  in  Turkey. 

Superstition,  instances  of,  among  moslems,  i.  90,  ii.  71,  81,  300 — Arme- 
nians, ii.  81,  131, 155— Nestorians,  ii.  249,  257. 

Surijy,  a  Turkish  postillion,  i.  111. 

Syriac  language  spoken  by  the  Nestorians,  ii.  212. 

Syrians,  orthodox,  ii.  275  note — Jacobite  not  found  in  Persia,  ii.  215 — 
•     Nestorian,  see  Nestorians. 

Tannoor,  a  cylindrical  oven  in  the  ground,  ii.  40,  70. 

Tartar,  a  Turkish  courier,  office  of,  i.  112— habits  of,  i.  92,  110,  119 

— manner  of  travelling  with,  i.  83,  85 — contract  with  ours,  i.  72— his 

deception,  i.  84,  109. 
Tateos  Arakeal,  convent  of,  ii.  63. 
Tebriz,  description  of,  ii.  143. 
Tenure  of  land,  in  Turkish  Armenia,  i.  160— in  the  Russian  provinces, 

i.  286— in  Persia,  ii.  177. 
Thyatira,  see  Ak-hisdr. 

Tiflis,  description  of,  i.  202— statistics  of,  i.  211,  221,  244. 
Tokat,  i.  97. 


348  INDEX. 

Toleration  in  Turkey,  i.  60.  ii.  331— in  Russ.  prov.  i.  210,  288 — in 

Persia,  ii.  151,  173,  178,  264. 
Trade,  of  Tokat,  i.  99— of  Erzroom,  i.  130,  ii.  303— of  Tiflis,  i.  214— 

of  Tebriz,  ii.  146— of  Trebizond,  ii.  322— Armenian  taste  for,  i,  212. 
Trans-Caucasian  provinces,  i.  209. 
Transubstantiation,  Armenian  belief  in,  ii.  102 — Nestorian  do.  ii. 

229,  238. 
Travelling,  accoutrements  for,  i.  72 — mode  of,  see  Tartar,  Post,  Carts, 

&c. — accommodations  in,  see  Post-houses,  Stables,  Houses,  &c. 
Trebizond,  ii.  321. 

Trees,  want  of  in  Armenia,  i.  175.  ii.  53,  308. 
Trisagion,  explanation  of,  ii.  276. 
Turkmans,  origin   of,  i.  38 — met  none  in  Asia  Minor,  i.  113 — few  in 

Armenia,  i.  151 — in  Persia,  ii.  163. 
Turks,  haughtiness  of,  i.  94.  ii.  166 — vanity  of,  i.  107 — of  Erzroom,  i. 

133 — a  venial  one,  i.  163 — prejudice  of,  against  the  S.  S.  i.  137.  ii.  170. 

Uch-keleeseh,  or  Soorp  Garabed,  ii.  273 — see  Echmiadzin. 

Van,  facts  respecting,  i.  17.  ii.  186. 

Vartabed,  title  of  an  Armenian  monk  in  priest's  orders,  ii.  30. 
Venice,  papal  Armenian  convent  at,  i.  256. 
Viaticum,  held  essential  by  the  Armenians,  ii.  103,  125. 
Virgin,  how  venerated  by  the  Armenians,  i.  324.  ii.  15,  124,  160 — by  the 
Nestorians,  ii.  201,  214,  249. 

Wedding,  Turkish  procession  of,  i.  76 — Chaldean,  ii.  196. 

Wekeel,  a  vicar,  or  lieutenant. 

Women,  Armenian,  condition  of,  ii.  50 — see  Female. 

Worship,  Armenian,  mode  of,  i.  227 — nature  of,  i.  153,  181,  229 — 
which  way  directed,  ii.  130 — attendance  at,  ii.  56 — in  families,  ii.  27 
—Protestant,  i.  230— Moslem,  ii.  72— Chaldean,  ii.  191—  Nestori- 
an, ii.  209,  235,  246,  255,  260— in  families,  ii.  249. 

Yezeedies,  at  the  foot  of  mount  Ararat,  ii.  270. 
Yoghoort,  sour  curdled  milk. 


END    OF   VOL.    II. 


